Angela Stribling, BET host and radio personality, dies after 2-year battle with brain cancer
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- Former BET host Angela Stribling has died of cancer.
- Stribling was a radio and TV personality and jazz singer.
- She was the first woman to host WHUR’s “The Original Quiet Storm” radio program, which has a 50-year history.
Radio personality, jazz singer and former BET host Angela Stribling died on Sunday of cancer. She was 58.
Stribling “passed away peacefully at home ... after a courageous two-year battle with brain cancer,” her husband, Ken Washington, posted to her Instagram account. “Her sister Darlene and I were by her side.”
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Stribling attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and took a position with American Airlines at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport after college. She spent four years as host of BET entertainment news program “Screen Scene” and helped launch BET Jazz, hosting “Jazz Central,” “Jazz Discovery” and “Jazz Scene” for the network, according to a posting about her death by Howard University’s WHUR-FM (96.3).
“King of Calypso” Slinger Francisco, also known as the Mighty Sparrow, died in New York on Sunday at 91 following a brief illness, according to his daughter, Karen Francisco.
She worked as a reporter for “Evening Magazine” and co-host of “On Time” on Baltimore television and as a news intern at WTTG-TV and WOL-AM in Washington, D.C., before joining WHUR-FM. That’s where she became the first woman to host “The Original Quiet Storm,” a program of “soulful slow jams and romantic melodies” that recently celebrated 50 years of being on air.
“Pillow Talk,” WHUR’s long-running late-night program hosted by Stribling, centered on relationships, conversation and music.
“Angela Stribling was a remarkable talent, but what made her truly special was the person she was,” WHUR General Manager Sean Plater said in the station’s tribute. “Her voice was beautiful, her presence was calming, and her spirit was genuine. She had a way of making people feel welcome and valued, and that gift extended far beyond the radio. Angela was part of the WHUR family, and her loss is deeply felt by all of us. We will remember her not only for the incredible career she built, but for the love, kindness and light she shared with so many people.”
Rollins was one of the last iconic figures of the golden age of post-World War II jazz.
Stribling was also a classically trained jazz vocalist, who performed at New York City venues including the Rainbow Room, the Supper Club and the Soul Cafe. She traveled the world and shared the stage with legendary artists, including Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan.
“Her sultry voice made her a staple on radio in the D.C. area and on Sirius. She did countless voiceover work, she sang and had parts in movies. I remember her calling me when she got a role in the Eddie Murphy movie ‘Distinguished Gentlemen,’ ” former BET colleague Ed Gordon wrote on Facebook. “She was a sweet soul.”
