MONTGOMERY: Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song Wish I Didn't Miss You, died in a car crash in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday. She was 63.
The accident happened when the vehicle she was in flipped over and was hit by a big rig while returning to Atlanta from Alabama, according to music producer and Stone’s longtime manager Walter Millsap III. He confirmed the news in an email to The Associated Press.
Everyone else in the cargo van survived except Stone, he said.
The Alabama Highway Patrol reported that the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van overturned on Interstate 65 at about 4:25 a.m. before being struck by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia truck driven by a 33-year-old man from Texas. Stone was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the van and seven others were taken to Baptist Medical Center for treatment. Officials are still investigating the cause of the accident.
Millsap said he learned of Stone’s passing from her daughter, Diamond, and her longtime bandmate from The Sequence, Blondy.
"Never in a million years did we ever expect to get this horrible news," Stone’s children, Diamond and Michael Archer, said in a statement shared by the SRG Group. "We are still trying to process and are completely heartbroken."
Millsap added, "We are truly devastated by this unexpected and unfortunate tragedy, and there are simply no words to express how we feel."
Stone was scheduled to perform at the halftime show of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men’s championship basketball game on Saturday.
CIAA Chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber called for a moment of silence at the game. CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker expressed sadness over the loss.
"She used her incredible talent, passion, and presence to inspire and touch us with strength and hope," Parker said.
Stone had a successful career with hits like No More Rain (In This Cloud), which held the No. 1 spot for 10 weeks on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart, and Baby, a collaboration with legendary soul singer Betty Wright. She was also known for songs like Wish I Didn't Miss You and Brotha.
In the early 2000s, she thrived in the neo-soul movement alongside artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell, and D’Angelo. Her 2001 album Mahogany Soul reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200, while her 2007 album The Art of Love & War peaked at No. 11.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Stone grew up in a musical household. She helped form The Sequence, the first all-female group on the pioneering hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records, making history as one of the first female rap groups. The group’s song Funk You Up has been widely sampled, including by Dr. Dre.
After finding success in the early 1980s, she later joined the trio Vertical Hold before launching her solo career.
Music was always a part of her life. In a 1999 interview with the Associated Press, Stone spoke about her musical influences.
"I’m an only child, so my dad and my mom are my life, and when I was a kid, I’d look up to my dad," she said. "He was very influential in what I wanted to do."
Years later, after being hospitalized for congestive heart failure, she made major lifestyle changes, losing over 40 pounds and improving her diet.
At the time, she said she was grateful to be alive and making music. "I feel complete. I have a new love, a new album, a new outlook, and a newfound joy. A few years ago, I was unhappy, depressed, not happy with the label’s efforts to market me. I had to still manage to uplift my audience," she told the AP in 2007. "Now I feel like I’m on my way to a happily ever after. I’ve been in the business since 1979. I’ve grudged and drudged. Now I can finally say I feel I’ve arrived and mean it."
Stone won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award and also pursued acting. She appeared in films like The Hot Chick with Rob Schneider, The Fighting Temptations with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé, and Ride Along starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. She also performed on Broadway as Big Mama Morton in Chicago.
Additionally, she participated in reality TV, appearing on Celebrity Fit Club and R&B Divas: Atlanta.