Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, known for hits like Wish I Didn’t Miss You and No More Rain (In This Cloud), died in a car crash early Saturday. She was 63.
Stone was traveling back to Atlanta from Alabama when the vehicle she was riding in overturned and was struck by a big rig around 4 am, her longtime manager Walter Millsap III told The Associated Press. While others in the van survived, Stone succumbed to her injuries.
Her children, Diamond and Michael Archer, expressed their grief in a statement shared by the SRG Group: “Never in a million years did we ever expect to get this horrible news. We are still trying to process and are completely heartbroken.”
Millsap described the loss as “an unexpected and unfortunate tragedy,” adding, “there are simply no words to express how we feel.”
Stone had been scheduled to perform at the halftime show of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) men’s championship basketball game on Saturday. CIAA Chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber led a moment of silence in her honour. Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker said the league was “heartbroken by the loss” and praised Stone for using her talent to “inspire and touch us with strength and hope.”
A trailblazer in hip-hop and R&B, Stone first gained recognition as a member of The Sequence, the pioneering all-female rap trio signed to Sugar Hill Records. Their song Funk You Up became a hip-hop classic, later sampled by artists such as Dr. Dre. She later joined the R&B trio Vertical Hold before launching a successful solo career.
Stone was a key figure in the neo-soul movement of the early 2000s alongside Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell, and D’Angelo. Her 2001 album Mahogany Soul reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200, while The Art of Love & War (2007) peaked at No. 11. Her collaboration Baby with Betty Wright became a chart-topping hit.
Beyond music, Stone ventured into acting, appearing in films such as The Hot Chick, The Fighting Temptations, and Ride Along. She also performed on Broadway in Chicago and appeared on reality shows including Celebrity Fit Club and R&B Divas: Atlanta.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Stone’s legacy spans decades, from hip-hop’s early days to modern R&B. Her influence, both as a solo artist and as part of The Sequence, remains a defining part of music history.
