R&B Singer Angie Stone Passes Away, Aged 63

American R&B singer Angie Stone passed away on Saturday (1 March) in a van crash. She was 63.

Variety reports Stone died in a car crash while she was on the way from Montgomery, Alabama, to Atlanta on early Saturday morning.

A representative for the Wish I Didn’t Miss You singer confirmed that she was travelling from a show with her band members when their van was hit by a semi-trailer truck and flipped three times. Stone was the only individual who died in the tragic crash.

In a joint statement, Stone’s children Diamond Stone and Michael Archer said, “Never in a million years did we ever expect to get this horrible news. Our mom is and will always be our everything. We are still trying to process and are completely heartbroken.”

Stone rose to fame in the ‘70s as a member of the hip-hop trio The Sequence and joined the group Vertical Hold in the ‘90s.

In 1999, Stone released her debut solo album, Black Diamond, via Arista Records. The album went on to be certified gold in the US and spawned the single No More Rain (In This Cloud).

Stone later transitioned to J Records and released her second album, Mahogany Soul, in 2001, which featured the hit single Wish I Didn’t Miss You. Her 2007 album, The Art Of Love & War, was her first #1 album on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Stone released ten solo albums throughout her career, with her final album, Love Language, released in 2023. Stone was nominated for three Grammy Awards and won two Soul Train Lady Of Soul Awards. In 2021, Stone received the Soul Music Icon Award at the Black Music Honors.

In addition to her music career, Stone ventured into acting in the 2000s. She made her acting debut in the 2002 comedy flick The Hot Chick and her stage debut in 2003, portraying Big Mama Morton in the Broadway musical Chicago.

Stone also appeared in the television programs Celebrity Fit Club and R&B Divas, as well as films including The Fighting Temptations, Pastor Brown, and School Gyrls.

Angie Stone played at the inaugural Soulfest series in Australia in 2014.