Grammy-Nominated Soul Singer, Angie Stone, Tragically Dies at 63

Stone was born Angela Brown in Columbia, South Carolina. She co-founded the pioneering hip-hop group The Sequence when she was only 16 years old; the group is widely recognized as the first female rap group – and the first hip-hop act to come from the South. Alongside Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook and Gwendolyn “Blondie” Chisholm, Angie Stone and The Sequence would land a deal with Sugar Hill Records and release influential singles like “Funk You Up” and “Simon Says.” The Sequence’s music would be sampled and referenced in hits like “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and Dr. Dre’s “Keep Their Heads Ringing.”

Stone would resurface in the early 1990s as a member of the R&B trio Vertical Hold, before launching an award-winning solo career. She scored hits like “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” “Brotha” and “I Wish I Didn’t Miss You,” while collaborating with luminaries such as Prince and Lenny Kravitz. She also worked with D’angelo – for whom she co-wrote songs like “Send It On,” which was about Michael Archer, the son they shared.

Angie Stone continued to release albums while she also ventured into acting, appearing in 2002’s The Hot Chick and 2003’s The Fighting Temptations, among other films, as well as onstage in Chicago.

Alongside contemporaries like the aforementioned D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Jill Scott and others, Stone helped popularize the neo soul genre in the late ‘90s and early 2000s — a part of the vanguard of artists who shaped the sound and influenced a generation.

Angie Stone was 63.