Biography
South Carolina native, Angie Stone began singing
at First Nazareth Baptist Church as a child, and attended local
gospel performances by her father’s quartet and by the Singing
Angels and the Gospel Keynotes. She had a well grounded if uneventful
childhood, enjoyed sports and was offered several basketball scholarships
upon graduation. Her love of poetry was the only indication of
the songwriter she would someday become.
Stone saved every penny she could from a variety
of go-nowhere jobs to record some demos, and at age sixteen formed
the rap trio, The Sequence, with Gwendolyn Chisholm and Cheryl
Cook…step one on Angie’s climb to the top. Their hits
for Sugarhill Records, “Funk You Up,” “Funky
Sound,” and “I Don’t Need Your Love,”
showcased Angie’s vocal chops to the world beyond her Carolina
home, and by the mid ‘80s she had worked with Mantronix
and Lenny Kravitz and formed the neo-soul trio Vertical Hold,
who signed with A&M Records. The Vertical Hold CD included
the singles “Seems You’re Much Too Busy,” and
“ASAP,” and Stone had climbed another rung on the
music business ladder.
By the mid-‘90s Stone was working with
Lenny’s cousin Gerry Deveaux in Devox, recording one album,
Devox Featuring Angie B. Stone, released by Toshiba/EMI in Japan,
AND she met her new recording mentor, Clive Davis.
In 1999 Angie Stone released her much-heralded
debut solo album, Black Diamond, on Arista Records. For the hard-working
singer/musician it felt like she was nearing the top rung of the
ladder.
The word on Stone’s Arista launch was that
she was a modern day-Aretha Franklin providing an exuberant return
to classic soul in the tradition of her heroes, Franklin, Donny
Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. She brought a whole
new energy and sensibility to the material and a whole new spectrum
of fans joined the Angie Stone fan club when they heard her Top
10 R&B hit “No More Rain (In This Cloud).” “Black
Diamond” was followed by the J Records’ release “Mahogany
Soul,” “Stone Love,” and, a live recording of
her greatest hits, “Stone Hits”: The Very Best of
Angie Stone. The Arista/J Records CDs made Angie Stone a certified-gold
CD artist, a national and international star, and a much-in-demand
guest on the albums of her peers and friends. But Stone remained
unfulfilled, stuck on a plateau. She still had not reached the
top of the ladder, and felt like she was never going to get there.
And then last year (2007) Stone had a bout with congestive heart
failure.
Enter Stanback and Stax Records, bringing with
him a whole new creative family for Angie Stone to call her own.
The reactivated Stax imprint, acquired by the Concord Music Group,
is committed to the power and legacy of its forbearers, and poised
to be a dynamic new force in contemporary R&B music. Stax
holds a critical place in American music history as one of the
most popular soul music record labels of all time — second
only to Motown in sales and influence, but first in gritty, raw,
Southern-steeped soul music.
As one of the first major signings to the new
Stax Records, Angie Stone has found a home, and is diva-ready.
When Stax Records’ Collin Stanback entered Stone’s
life, she was feeling stalled in her career -- stuck at a plateau.
The opportunity he presented to her to be one of the debut artists
on the newly activated Stax label offered a challenge that she
was more than ready to take on. “The art of love and war”
was released in 2007.
“Collin made me stretch,” Angie
Stones smiles. “Well enough was definitely not good enough.
He encouraged me to go where he knew I could go. And even good
enough was not acceptable.”
“I’m happy and I’m blessed.
To me, this album and this opportunity, is a rebirth. Everything
in life is a journey, and “The Art of Love and War”
defines this time and this place in my life.” - Angie Stone.
Photographs below feature Angie Stone &
Dionne Warwick
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