Early life

Stone was born in Columbia, South Carolina, where she began singing gospel music at First Nazareth Baptist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Blakely N. Scott. Her father, a member of a local gospel quartet, took Stone to see performances by gospel artists such as the Singing Angels and the Gospel Keynotes.

Musical career

Early career

In the late 1970s, when Stone (then known as "Angie B.") was 16, she formed the rap trio The Sequence, a female hip-hop/funk act consisting of Cheryl The Pearl and Blondie. They were the second rap group signed to the Sugar Hill Records after auditioning for Sylvia Robinson backstage at a Sugar Hill Gang concert in South Carolina. The Sequence had a hit in 1980 with "Funk You Up", which reached number 15 on the U.S. Top Black Singles chart, and a minor hit with "Monster Jam" featuring rapper Spoonie Gee. Stone notes that she was still underage at the time and thus unable to sign a contract. Meanwhile, Robinson sold the rights to "Funk You Up" to Dr. Dre, and members of The Sequence never received any royalties for this highly popular song. "It hurts because this was our first song ever by the first female rap group worldwide", Stone said. The Sequence enjoyed a series of rap hits as the first female rap group during the early years of hip hop. Such hits as "Funky Sound (Tear The Roof Off)" kept the band touring with many of the Soul Bands of the day. Stone said that she and the other members of the group learned a lot from Robinson, who acted as their mentor.

Stone then worked with Mantronix, before singing background on Lenny Kravitz's fifth studio album, 5. The Sequence faded into obscurity as hip hop changed from its original party sound to a more gritty street art form. Stone emerged during the 1990s as part of the trio Vertical Hold which released the popular single "Seems You're Much Too Busy" as well as two albums: A Matter of Time (1993) and Head First (1995).

In 1996, Stone teamed up with Gerry DeVeaux (Lenny Kravitz's cousin) and Charlie Mole to form the group Devox. They recorded one album, Devox Featuring Angie B. Stone, released in Japan by Toshiba EMI. Selected cuts were featured on Gerry DeVeaux's Front Of The line via the UK Expansion Records, which also included Stone-penned material. Stone shared songwriting credits on D'Angelo's first two studio albums, Brown Sugar (1995) and Voodoo (2000), as well as provided backing vocals when on tour with him.

1999-2005

Stone's debut solo album, Black Diamond, was released on September 28, 1999, on Arista Records; the album was eventually certified gold by the RIAA. She then released Mahogany Soul on October 16, 2001 (which also went gold, on Clive Davis's J Records label), and Stone Love on July 6, 2004. Additionally Stone appears on 18 & 18 by Moby: 18 is the sixth studio album by American electronica musician Moby released in 2002. The most successful single from the album was "We Are All Made of Stars", which reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. A notable single on the album is "Extreme Ways" which appears on The Bourne Legacy. The album features guest appearances by Azure Ray, MC Lyte, Angie Stone, and Sinéad O'Connor. A collection of the album's B-sides and video footage was released a year later on 18 B Sides + DVD with Stone appearing in the tour footage.

Much of Stone's solo material has significant soul influences and features notable samples. For example, her first solo single, "No More Rain (In This Cloud)", samples Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1972 song "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)", while "Wish I Didn't Miss You", Stone's most successful single, samples The O'Jays' 1972 song "Back Stabbers". The New York Times noted: " calls her music soul. Not funk, not R&B, not hip-hop, not urban, but soul, the secular pop with gospel fervor behind it."

2006-2011

During an interview to BBC 1Xtra on August 27, 2006, Stone announced that she had signed to the reworked Stax Records. Her fourth studio album The Art of Love & War, a reference to her experiences in her final days at J Records, where it had become expected that she would help develop new talent, was released on October 15, 2007. The lead single was "Baby" and featured Betty Wright. Its music video features cameo appearances by comedian Mike Epps and America's Next Top Model, Cycle 3 winner Eva Pigford. The song was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Stone released her fifth studio album Unexpected in the UK on February 8, 2010, on Stax Records. Speaking to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul in January 2010, she explained her ideas behind Unexpected: "Being as I've delivered four decent albums already, I felt it was safe to switch up and do something different this time. And musically overall I just wanted to have FUN! I wanted to do something that embodied a jam kinda feel, so that we could have some fun in concert and show people everything doesn't always have to be so serious."

2012-present

In 2012, Stone signed to Saguaro Road Records, an in-house music recording label of Time-Life, and released Rich Girl September 25, 2012. actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner contributed a poetry-slam-style spoken-word interlude to the record.

On November 6, 2015, Stone released her seventh studio album Dream on Shanachie Entertainment in collaboration with TopNotch Music and Conjunction Entertainment. Music executive Walter W. Millsap III and TopNotch Music. The album’s first single, "2 Bad Habits", will be released in September 2015.

Additional recording

Stone sings the theme song for the UPN/The CW's sitcom Girlfriends.

In addition to Mary J. Blige, Stone has worked as a songwriter with many other artists. She also played saxophone on the Lenny Kravitz Let Love Rule tour.

Stone performed "The Prayer" in concert with Josh Groban, which was released on Josh Groban in Concert (2002).

Stone participated in Music in High Places: Angie Stone - Live in Vancouver Island (2002).

She sang "Wade in the Water" in the civil rights documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution (2009).

Tours

Stone performed a stand-up theatre play tour entitled Issues: We've Got Them All, in which she had a leading role.

Stone toured with Sisters in the Spirit in 2007. She also toured in Europe in May/June 2008 and performed at various Summer Festivals in the U.S. in summer 2008 (including three headlining June shows) and two in the Netherlands in August 2008.

Acting career

Stone appeared on the VH1's reality television series Celebrity Fit Club for the fourth season, which began on August 6, 2006. While on the show, Stone lost eighteen pounds, the second lowest loss in the history of the show.

Stone played a strip-club owner in the film Pastor Brown (2009). Stone then played the Head Matron of an all-girls school in the film, School Gyrls (2010), directed by Nick Cannon, which featured many Def Jam artists.

Along with NeNe Leakes, Stone co-starred in the play, "Loving Him is Killing Me," that was performed in Washington, DC, Miami, and Philadelphia in May 2011. The play was written by Theo London and also starred Tyson Beckford and Christopher Williams.

Stone and Brian McKnight, who starred together in Chicago on Broadway, toured nationally in a production of Hinton Battle's Love Lies, which started with an engagement at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 2-7, 2013. The cast also included Crystal Aikin, Elise Neal, Amber A. Harris, and Kier Spates.

In 2013, Stone appeared on season two of TVOne's R&B Divas. Faith Evans, who produces the show, wanted Stone on the show the first season but the timing didn't work out until the second season. Stone's role is that of a mentor and life coach.

Personal life

Stone has a son and daughter. During the 1990s, Stone dated neo soul singer D'Angelo for four years. Their son, Michael D'Angelo Archer II, was born in 1998. Stone's daughter, Diamond, was born in 1984 and is from her marriage to Rodney Stone (also known as Lil' Rodney C!, from the hip-hop group Funky Four Plus One). Diamond contributed background vocals to Stone's 2007 song "Baby". Diamond gave birth to Stone's grandson in 2008 and another grandchild in July 2012.

Stone lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her son, Michael, and boyfriend and manager, Ashanti Graves, an airline auditor who has two children of his own.

On March 9, 2015, Stone was arrested in her Atlanta-area home for knocking out the teeth of her daughter, Diamond, with a metal pole.

Stone was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1999 and, along with comedian-actor Anthony Anderson, was part of the F.A.C.E Diabetes (Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered) program sponsored by Eli Lilly, which helps African Americans understand their risk for the disease and how to control it. Stone said that both her mother and her mother's sister were diabetic.

Discography

Main article: Angie Stone discography

Studio Albums

• 1999: Black Diamond
• 2001: Mahogany Soul
• 2004: Stone Love
• 2007: The Art of Love & War
• 2009: Unexpected
• 2012: Rich Girl
• 2015: Dream

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role
2002	The Hot Chick	Madame Mambuza
2003	The Fighting Temptations	Alma
2008	Caught on Tape	Diane
2009	Pastor Brown	Rick Fredericks
2010	School Gyrls	Headmaster Jones
2011	Dreams
2012	The Wonder Girls	Betty

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Moesha	Herself	"D-Money Loses His Patience" (season 5, episode 22)
2002	Girlfriends	Darla Mason	"Blinded by the Lights" (season 3, episode 51)
2004	One on One	Herself	"It's a Mad, Mad Hip Hop World" (season 3, episode 92)
2008	Lincoln Heights	Octavia	"Prom Night" (season 3, episode 9) "The Ground Beneath Our Feet" (season 3, episode 10)
2013 - 2014	R&B Divas: Atlanta	Herself	(season 2 - 3, main)
2014	Celebrity Wife Swap	Herself	1 episode

Theatre

Year	Title	Role
2003	Chicago	Big Mama Morton
2011	Loving Him is Killing Me	Mutha
2013	Love Lies	Victoria Davis

Awards and nominations

Wins

• 2000 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards: Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo for "No More Rain (In This Cloud)"
• 2000 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards: Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Solo
• 2004 Edison Award for Stone Love

Nominations

• 2003 Grammy Awards: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "More Than a Woman" (with Joe)
• 2004 Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "U-Haul"
• 2008 Grammy Awards: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Baby" (with Betty Wright)
• 2008 BET Awards: BET J Award
• 2008 BET J Virtual Awards: Album of the Year for The Art of Love & War

[ Source: Wikipedia ]