Angie Stone, the R&B and soul singer best-known for her 2001 hit ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’, has died. 

News of the artist’s passing was shared on Facebook on Saturday 1st March by her daughter Diamond Stone. A representative told Variety that Stone died in a car crash in Montgomery, Alabama. She had reportedly been travelling home to Atlanta from a show with her band, and was the only person who died in the crash. She was 63. 

In a joint statement, Stone’s family 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.”

Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Angie Stone rose to prominence in the late ‘70s as a member of the female hip-hop group The Sequence. Their hit single, ‘Funk You Up’, was later sampled by Dr Dre on ‘Keep Their Heads Ringin’ and Bruno Mars in ‘Uptown Funk’.

In the years following The Sequence’s split in the mid-’80s, Stone joined the R&B group Vertical Hold, with whom she released two albums during the ‘90s. She also had songwriting credits on D’Angelo’s ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Voodoo’, and joined him as a back-up singer on tour. 

Her debut solo album, ‘Black Diamond’, was released in 1999 featuring the singles ‘No More Rain (In This Cloud)’ and ‘Life Story’. That album’s follow-up, ‘Mahogany  Soul’, was released in 2022, and featured the single that would become her biggest hit, ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’. The song achieved iconic status in the dance music scene when, in 2016, Carl Cox dropped it as the last-ever track in Ibiza’s legendary Space club. 

In a tribute shared on Instagram, Cox wrote: “ The world has lost a true musical legend. Her amazing track ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’ will always hold a most special place in my heart. I wish I’d had the opportunity to meet her & talk about the music and what it’s meant to me. Her passing reminds us that life is precious and fleeting. My deepest condolences to all her family and friends. Rest in peace, Angie. Your music will forever be a guiding star in our lives.”

Stone went on to collaborate with artists including Snoop Dogg, and write songs for the likes of Erykah Badu and Raphael Saadiq. She released eight more albums, including 2023’s ‘Love Language’. Throughout her career, she was nominated for three Grammys. 

Read a selection of tributes to Stone, and listen to ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’ below.