Lizzy Musi, a race car driver who starred in the Discovery Channel’s “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings,” has died a little more than a year after being diagnosed with stage 4 triple-negative breast cancer. She was 33.
Musi passed away June 27 at her North Carolina home with her family by her side, her father, fellow street racer Pat Musi, announced on Facebook.
“Surrounded by her Family, in the comfort of her own home, Lizzy was called to heaven at 11:25pm tonight. Thank you for all the prayers and support throughout her battle,” he wrote.
Lizzy Musi revealed news of her cancer diagnosis on Instagram in April 2023.
“Hey Everyone, I haven’t been able to have much time to post due to an unexpected life change. A few days ago I have been Diagnosed with Triple Negative Stage 4 Breast Cancer that has moved to my lymph nodes to my liver,” she wrote.
“I have a rough journey ahead of me. I appreciate everyone’s messages and calls,” she added.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of invasive breast cancer that tends to grow and spread faster throughout the body, according to the American Cancer Society. There are also fewer treatments available, so patients tend to have worse outlooks.
About 10-15% of breast cancers are triple negative. Its signs and symptoms are similar to other types of breast cancer, such swelling in the breasts; changes to skin on the breast, including dimpling, redness, dryness, flaking or thickening; nipple discharge; pain in the breast or nipple; and swollen lymph nodes under the arm or near the collar bone.
Musi shared updates about her diagnosis on social media prior to her death. In June 2023, she posted a photo on Instagram that showed her with a shaved head, explaining in her caption that she decided to shave her head because of “extreme hair loss.”
“Well here is the new me … some days are tough to look in the mirror but there are days where I feel stronger than ever,” she wrote.
In April 2024, Musi opened up in a Facebook video about how her diagnosis had changed her. The video showed her receiving various treatments at a hospital.
“I am so very thankful to what this journey has actually taught me. I now know I have a purpose in life. I am grateful to keep going,” she told fans.
The longtime street racer, who also appeared on the “Street Outlaws” spin-offs “Locals Only,” “Gone Girl” and “Fastest in America,” made history in 2014 when she became the first woman to win a Pro Nitrous national event at the Professional Drag Racers Association U.S. Drags, according to her official website.
In 2023, she became the first female driver to win an event on “Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings”
Musi’s final post on Instagram featured a photo of red roses inside a hospital room. She tagged her location as Medias Klinikum Burghausen, a cancer treatment facility in Germany.
“Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers Mikey!!” she captioned the shot. “Made my morning on top of great news this morning!!”
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, who founded an early female rap group and later helped pioneer the neo-soul sound, died early Saturday in a car crash, according to the late star’s representative. She was 63.
The artist was involved in a fatal car accident early Saturday morning in Montgomery, Alabama, Stone’s rep, Deborah R. Champagne, said.
At the time of the crash, Stone and members of her band were headed to Atlanta after a performance the night before in Mobile, according to a statement from the independent label SRG-ILS.
An 18-wheeler struck the sprinter van Stone was a passenger in, causing it to flip, according to the statement.
Stone’s close friend and former bandmate, Gwendolyn “Blondie” Chisolm of The Sequence, identified her body at a Montgomery hospital, Champagne said. Chisolm was not traveling with Stone at the time of the accident, according to Champagne.
The singer had been scheduled to travel to Baltimore for a halftime performance at the CIAA basketball conference on Saturday afternoon.
Stone is survived by a daughter, Diamond Stone, and a son, Michael D’Angelo Archer II.
“Never in a million years did we ever expect to get this horrible news,” they said in a statement. “Our mom is and will always be our everything. We are still trying to process and are completely heartbroken.”
Born Angela Laverne Brown on Dec. 18, 1961, in Columbia, South Carolina, Stone grew up singing gospel music in church and first rose to prominence with the early female rap group The Sequence, known for their 1979 hit “Funk You Up.”
In the late 1990s, Stone helped pioneer the neo-soul sound, alongside contemporaries like Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. She notched several No. 1 hits on the Adult R&B charts, including “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” in 1999, which sampled Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Good Bye)” and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” in 2002.
She was nominated for a Grammy three times in her career, including Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for the duet “More Than a Woman” with Calvin Richardson from her 2001 album “Mahogany Soul” and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the song “U-Haul” from her 2004 album “Stone Love.” A collaboration with soul legend Betty Wright “Baby” netted her a third Grammy nomination.
She also made appearances in movies, such as “The Fighting Temptations” and “Scary Movie 5” and TV shows, such as “Girlfriends.”