Angie Stone

Angie Stone

born in 1961 in Columbia, SC, United States

Angie Stone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Angie Stone

Angie Stone (born Angela Laverne Brown December 19, 1961) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. She has been most successful on the R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, including a number one album, and ten singles, including a Top 10. She has sold over 1.4 millions albums in the U.S. and over 5 millions albums worldwide.

Personal life

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, would take Stone to see performances by gospel artists such as the Singing Angels and the Gospel Keynotes.[1]

She has a son and a daughter. During the 1990s Stone dated neo soul singer D'Angelo for four years. Their son Michael D'Angelo Archer II[2] 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 [3] gave birth to Stone's grandson in 2008 and another grandchild in July 2012.[4]

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.[5][6][7]

Health issues

Sarcoidosis

While working a temp job in a lab at New York City's New York-Presbyterian Hospital, 26-year-old Stone was exposed to a sap that gave her sarcoidosis. The treatment of this condition gave her health problems, much of it due to the strength of the Prednisone dosage they gave her. She was on Prednisone for 12 years, eventually weaning herself off.[8]

Diabetes

Stone was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1999,[9] and, along with comedian-actor Anthony Anderson,[10] was part of the F.A.C.E Diabetes (Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered) program, sponsored by Eli Lilly,[11] which helps African Americans understand their risk for the disease and how to control it.[12] Stone said that both her mother and her mother's sister were diabetic.[13][14]

Musical career

The Sequence

In the early 1980s, when Stonethen known as Angie B. -- was sixteen,[11] she formed the rap trio, The Sequence, a female hip hop/funk trio 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.

They had a hit in 1980 with "Funk You Up", which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Top Black Singles chart, and a minor hit with "Monster Jam" featuring rapper Spoonie Gee. Per Stone, regarding the royalties of the wildly popular hit, "Funk You Up": "Sylvia had sold the licensing and rights to the song over to Dr. Dre. Right now to the day Dr. Dre is collecting publishing on a song we wrote. I never had a publishing deal because I was underage. By the time I went to deal with it legally the building had burned down and there were no records or files of anything. So [The Sequence is] still being cheated. It hurts because this was our first song ever by the first female rap group worldwide."[15]

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 Sequence touring with many of the Soul Bands of the day. Stone said of Sylvia Robinson: "Sylvia Robinson was a mentor for us all. We learned every trick of the trade from her.... When my group did break up she had already positioned me to stretch out because I had a gift and she acknowledged the gift a long time ago."[15]

She 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.

Vertical Hold

Stone emerged during the 1990s as part of the R&B 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).[4]

Devox

In 1996, she teamed up with Gerry DeVeaux (Lenny Kravitz's cousin) and together with Charlie Mole they formed Devox. They recorded one album, Devox Featuring Angie B. Stone. Released in Japan by Toshiba EMI and selected cuts featured on Gerry DeVeaux's Front Of The line via the UK Expansion Records, which also included Stone-penned material.[16]

Collaboration with D'Angelo

Stone shared songwriting credits on D'Angelo's first two studio albums, Brown Sugar (1995) and Voodoo (2000), as well as providing backing vocals on tour with him.

On this collaboration: "In my case, I came from a hip-hop success story to a songwriter that ended up getting a second chance with another group, ended up falling in love with a superstar sex symbol. And within that pivotal moment of my career, its almost like I lost myself because the relationship overshadowed Angie Stone, the singer, the songwriter, the producer. It reduced me to just being a woman with a baby from a superstar."[17]

Solo work

J Records

Her solo debut album, Black Diamond, was released on September 28, 1999 on Arista Records; the album would eventually be certified gold by the RIAA. She has since also released, on Clive Davis' J Records, Mahogany Soul on October 16, 2001 (which also went gold), and Stone Love on July 6, 2004.

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" samples The O'Jays' 1972 song "Back Stabbers". In a review of a show of this material, The New York Times says it thusly: Stone "calls her music soul. Not funk, not R&B, not hip-hop, not urban, but soul, the secular pop with gospel fervor behind it."[18][19]

Stax Records

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 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.

The significance behind the record's title was about her changing situation at J Records with Clive Davis, during a time when she said she was contemplating leaving the secular set and going straight to gospel music.[5] The record was recorded at Marvin's Room, the same studio where Marvin Gaye recorded many of his later albums.[20]

"My People," a track on the record that the actor Idris Elba wrote for the Stone, is "a serious and hilarious song about black empowerment."[8]

Angie released her fifth studio album titled "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."[21]

Saguaro Road Records

In 2012, Stone signed to Saguaro Road Records, an in-house music recording label of Time-Life, and released Rich Girl September 25, 2012.[4]

The actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner contributes a poetry-slam-style spoken-word interlude to the record.[22]

Additional recording

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

In addition to Mary J. Blige, Stone has worked with many artists, as both a songwriter, as well as - in the case of Lenny Kravitz - playing the saxophone on his Let Love Rule tour.[15]

Stone participated in Music in High Places: Angie Stone - Live in Vancouver Island (2002).[23]

She also sang "Wade in the Water" in the civil rights documentary, Soundtrack for a Revolution.[24]

Tours

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

Stone has had various Summer Festival dates lined up across America and also three headlining American shows in June and another two in the Netherlands in August.

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

Angie Stone appeared at London's Indigo2 (at The O2) on 23 July 2012.

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

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.[25]

Stone played a strip-club owner in the film Pastor Brown (2009).[21] 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.[26]

Stone and Brian McKnight, who starred together in Chicago on Broadway, starred in the national tour of Hinton Battle's "Love Lies," which started on April 27, 2013 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. The cast features McKnight as Harrison Brown, Stone as Victoria Davis, Elise Neal as Kim Anderson, gospel singer-songwriter Crystal Aikin as Mother Harrison, comedian Kier Spates as Funeral Director and newcomer Amber A. Harris as Pam Jackson.[27]

In 2013, Stone appeared on season two of TVOne's R&B Divas.[28][29][30] 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.[31] Stone's role is that of a mentor and life coach.[17]

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 R&B Divas: Atlanta Herself 10 episodes

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

References

  1. Angie Stone / Biography. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  2. Angie Stone Delivers Southern Comfort. Essence (December 16, 2009). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  3. Angie Stone Interview on Michael Baisden Radio show
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mitchell, David A. (June 4, 2012). Angie Stone: Doing What Shes Gotta Do!. Amalgamation Magazine. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  5. 5.0 5.1 The Stone Age: Angie Stone on her new album, fiance and D'Angelo. Essence (December 16, 2009). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  6. Angie Stone Planning To Wed In The Bahamas. Starpulse.com (August 13, 2007). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  7. ANGIE STONE 50TH BIRTHDAY SURPRISE. GospelCONNOISSEUR.COM (December 20, 2011). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Angie Stone Talks 'Love and War'. NPR (October 19, 2007). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  9. Ford, Sabrina (November 23, 2009). 'Unexpected': Angie Stone's New Album and Lifestyle. Essence. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  10. Anthony Anderson and Angie Stone F.A.C.E. Diabetes and Encourage African Americans to Make Over Your Sunday Meal. Rolling Out. Steed Media Group, Inc. (December 9, 2010). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Neo-Soul Singer Angie Stone Belts a New Tune: Be Fearless in the FACE of Diabetes. Eli Lilly and Company. PR Newswire (April 15, 2008). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  12. Angie Stone: Grammy Nominated Artist Speaking Out About Diabetes (audio interview). TALK! with AUDREY. The Adams Report (2009). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  13. Angie Stone Interview: Learning to Deal With Diabetes: Body and Soul. BET (June 14, 2010). Retrieved on 23 October 2013. 'My mom was a diabetic. Her sister was a diabetic, so I was already a candidate,' said Stone
  14. Angie Stone Biography. dLife.com (November 28, 2012). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 SOULEO (August 16, 2012). INTERVIEW - Angie Stone: Soul on the Outside. Ebony. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  16. angie stone. Soulwalking. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Carter, Kelley L. (May 8, 2013). R&B Diva Deluxe: Angie Stone Schools the Young Guns. Ebony. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  18. Pareles, Jon, SOUL REVIEW; Straight Talk and Uplift, November 10, 2001. URL accessed on 23 October 2013.
  19. Powers, Ann, POP REVIEW; Gospel and Earthy Asides by a Preacher of the Everyday, April 26, 2000. URL accessed on 23 October 2013.
  20. Rath, Derek (October 16, 2007). Singer Discusses Album, the Influence of Legends. NPR. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Lewis, Pete. ANGIE STONE: HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. Blues&Soul. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  22. Friskics-Warren, Bill, Angie Stone, Rich Girl album review, September 24, 2012. URL accessed on 23 October 2013.
  23. Music in High Places: Angie Stone - Live in Vancouver Island (2002). URL accessed on 23 October 2013.
  24. Video: Angie Stone Sings 'Wade in the Water'. URL accessed on 23 October 2013.
  25. Angie Stone: The Wow Factor. Essence (December 16, 2009). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  26. Melton, Nicole Marie (May 9, 2011). NeNe Leakes and Angie Stone Star in New Play. Essence. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  27. Gioia, Michael (April 2, 2013). Brian McKnight and Angie Stone Star in National Tour of Hinton Battle's Love Lies, Beginning April 2 in D.C.. Playbill. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  28. Sangweni, Yolanda (June 6, 2013). EXCLUSIVE: Angie Stone on 'R&B Divas,' Saving Soul Music, and Waiting for D'Angelo's Comeback. Essence. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  29. Angie Stone Talks Divas & DAngelo On The Ricky Smiley Morning Show. Okayplayer (May 20, 2013). Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  30. The Rickey Smiley Morning Show (May 20, 2013). Angie Stone Explains What Shes Trying To Do On "R&B Divas" Reality Show [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]. Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.
  31. Croom, Tene (May 8, 2013). Angie Stones Bringing A Legacy of Leadership to R&B Divas: Atlanta (Listen). Lee Bailey's eurweb.com. Retrieved on 23 October 2013.

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This page was last modified 28.01.2014 16:29:57

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