Singer Angie Stone, a member of the pioneering hip-hop trio The Sequence, died early Saturday morning in a car crash in Alabama at the age of 63, according to reports.
Reports indicate that Stone was traveling in a Sprinter van when it was involved in a collision. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) released details of the fatal incident, which occurred in Montgomery County around 4:25 a.m.
Stone’s representative, Deborah Champagne, told TMZ that Stone was en route from a performance when the accident happened. She had performed at the MAMGA Grand Marshal Ball in Mobile on Friday night, according to news and Facebook posts about the performance.
The ALEA press release stated that the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, in which Stone was a passenger, was struck by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia driven by Jared S. Wilkinson, 33, of Skidmore, Texas. Stone was pronounced dead at the scene. Prior to the collision with the Freightliner, the Mercedes-Benz van had overturned in a single-vehicle crash. Both crashes occurred on Interstate 65 near the 162-mile marker, approximately five miles south of Montgomery.
The driver of the Mercedes-Benz, Leethel Carter, 66, of Atlanta, Ga., was injured and transported to Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery for treatment. Other passengers, including Anthony Majors, Jr., Ashton Evans, Dontay Dailey, James Owens, Sheila Hopkins, Sherie Murphy, and Sherita Murphy, were also injured and taken to Baptist Medical Center South. No other information was available as the ALEA’s Highway Patrol Division continues its investigation.
Stone was a three-time Grammy Award winner and a two-time Soul Train Lady of Soul Award recipient, according to her AllMusic biography.
Stone rose to prominence as a member of The Sequence, known as the first female hip-hop trio signed to Sugar Hill Records in the late 1970s. The group, which included Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook and Gwendolyn “Blondie” Chisolm, is best known for their hit song “Funk You Up,” which has been sampled in other tracks like Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Dr. Dre’s “Keep Their Heads Ringin.”
