Angie Stone

Angela Laverne Brown, known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. Soon after, Stone began working with futuristic rap group Mantronix and singer Lenny Kravitz. In the early 1990s, she became a member of the R&B trio Vertical Hold. In 1999, Stone released her solo debut Black Diamond on Arista Records, which was certified gold and spawned the R&B number-one hit "No More Rain (In This Cloud)". After transitioning to J Records, she released another gold-seller, "Mahogany Soul," which included the hit single "Wish I Didn't Miss You", followed by "Stone Love" and "The Art of Love & War," her first number-one album on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Stone ventured into acting in the 2000s, making her film debut in the 2002 comedy film The Hot Chick, and her stage debut in 2003, in the role of Big Mama Morton in the Broadway musical "Chicago." She has since appeared in supporting roles in films and television series as well as several musical productions, including VH1’s "Celebrity Fit Club" and TV One's "R&B Divas," and movies such as The Fighting Temptations, Pastor Brown, and School Gyrls. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, she has two Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. Stone received the Soul Music Icon Award at 2021 Black Music Honors.

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. She helps to raise awareness about how diabetes is an often overlooked ailment in the Black community.