Her music is raw, honest, always real. Just as straight ahead is her attitude to that music. A lyrical poetess of the first order and leader in the neo-soul movement, Angie Stone lays it on the line, no-holds-barred: "I don't go for the trendy commercial approach. What I do is basic soul music - no frills added."

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The international record-buying public discovered that when they turned Angie's 1999 platinum debut "Black Diamond" into a critically acclaimed global best seller, spurred by the success of "No More Rain (In This Cloud)," a major pop and R&B hit single. That Angie Stone would continue to keep it real was without question.

"I was reaching out for a certain freedom of self-expression on my second album. I went into making it with the attitude that it would be better than my first album, that it would still have the sensibilities of old school soul but with more of a street edge," says Angie.

Working with a cast of producers that includes Raphael Saadiq, Warryn Campbell, Gerald Isaac, Eddie F., Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Eran Tabib, Angie masterminded the direction for "Mahogany Soul": "It was about setting the tone for whatever I wanted the album to be. I worked with some great people but my thing is, if we're gonna work together, you have to understand where I'm coming from. Whatever you're doing production-wise has to coincide with what I'm saying musically and lyrically."

Where Angie Stone has come from is a tradition of great gospel-rooted singing and music-making and where she finds herself now is on the cutting edge of inspired creativity.

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Getting to the place where she could experience the range of her creative skills took a moment for the Columbia, South Carolina-born songstress. Hailing from a musical family ("my father performed in a local gospel quartet"), Angie was exposed to great gospel groups and joined the choir of the First Nazareth Baptist Church "when I was knee-high to a duck's tail. I've been singing and writing poetry ever since."

Listening to R&B legends like Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Hathaway, Gaye and Mayfield and performing their songs in the mirror in her bedroom, a teenaged Angie was destined to pursue a career in music even though at one point, "I was offered a few basketball scholarships to college." A self-taught keyboard player, Angie took what she calls "a lot of dead-end jobs" to raise the money to make her first demos.

After a stint with a local trio that led to her first experience as a recording artist, Angie Stone contributed her burgeoning songwriting skills to "Baby Cries," a track cut by Prince protégé, Jill Jones. The word was out and Angie soon found herself working with futuristic rappers Mantronix and superstar Lenny Kravitz, at one point playing sax in his band. By the late '80s, she had formed the trio Vertical Hold, whose A&M 1993 debut album "A Matter Of Time" achieved critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, in part as a result of the Top 20 R&B hit "Seems You're Much Too Busy."

In addition to collaborating with Mary J. Blige, Solo and Malik Pendleton, Angie Stone was a key musical collaborator on D'Angelo's platinum-plus 1995 debut album "Brown Sugar," working on several tracks with D'Angelo, whom she describes as "a musical soulmate." The talented singer-songwriter was one of the luminaries who contributed to "Black Diamond," Angie's auspicious 1999 Arista debut album, collaborating with her on the track "Everyday."

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"I had been preparing for years and by the time "Black Diamond" started to take off and "No More Rain" hit, I was ready for the world," she recalls. "It took me a long time to get excited about what was happening. I worked very hard and I felt comfort in a spiritual way once people started getting into my music. I was grateful to God for the blessings and," she says, "when I received two Lady Of Soul Awards (in 2000), that was a turning point. The acceptance of the crowd that night was overwhelming. It was like they were saying, 'It's about time, you've earned it.'"

Balancing the demands of being the single mother of a young son and a teenage daughter, Angie hit the road and performed on shows in late 1999 and throughout 2000 with a variety of different artists. Getting to perform and be in the company of legends like Ron Isley, Maurice White and Charlie Wilson (of The Gap Band) was "amazing for me. Those people paid their dues and paved the way for artists like me, so it was a real honor to have them respond to my music."

After transitioning to J Records, she released her second album, Mahogany Soul (2001), which included the hit single "Wish I Didn't Miss You"; followed by the albums Stone Love (2004) and The Art of Love & War (2007), her first number-one album on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Angie 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 (2003), Pastor Brown (2009) and School Gyrls (2010).

Stone has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, and has won two Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. In 2021, she received the Soul Music Icon Award at the Black Music Honors.

In March 2022 she performed at Smokin Grooves along with others, including Erykah Badu, Nas, The Roots, Jhené Aiko, Miguel, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Smino, Little Dragon and Musiq Soulchild.

Angie Stone has emerged as a one-of-a-kind, passionate, honest and remarkable artist who is carving her own niche in the world of contemporary music. In the realm of new millennium soul sisters, Angie Stone is the real thing.

Years active: 
   x80s, x90s, x00s, x10s, x20s
   1979-present

Born: ..in South Carolina / born nSouthCarolina
Born: ..in Columbia / born ColumbiaSC
Born:   Jan 30, 1961

Based: ..in US
Based: ..in Georgia / based nGeorgia
Based: ..in Atlanta / based AtlantaGA