Roland Stone (born Roland LeBlanc, 12 August 1941 – 22 December 1999) was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

and pop singer who performed and recorded in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

between the 1950s and 1990s. Singer

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

described him as "the singingest white guy I've ever heard". He was born in New Orleans, and in his teens played guitar in a

Warren Easton High School A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

band, The Jokers. In 1959 he was invited by

Mac Rebennack Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

(later known as Dr. John) to join his group, The Skyliners. He won a contract with Ace Records, but made his first recording, a version of the song "

Junco Partner "Junco Partner", also known as "Junco Partner (Worthless Man)", is a blues song first recorded by James Waynes in 1951.

" re-worked as "Preacher's Daughter", for the Spinett label, set up by singer

Frankie Ford Frankie Ford (August 4, 1939 – September 28, 2015) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1959 hit "Sea Cruise". Biography He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, as Vincent Francis Guzzo, across the Mississippi ...

and his manager Joe Caronna. For contractual reasons Caronna changed the singer's name to Stone. At the Ace

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

, he then recorded "Something Special", which was written and produced by Rebennack, and arranged by Allen Toussaint, and "Just A Moment", which became a regional hit and sold an estimated 100,000 copies. However, later records in the early 1960s, some released on Cosimo Matassa's White Cliffs label, failed to sell. In 1964, Stone quit the music business. He worked in New Orleans and then

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

– where he performed occasionally under his real name until the late 1970s – before returning to his home city in 1979 to work in his uncle's dry cleaning business. Following an approach from record producer Carlo Ditta, he recorded again with Dr. John in the 1990s, releasing two albums on Orleans Records, ''Remember Me'' (1994) and ''Live on the Creole Queen'' (1997). He also performed at local clubs and festivals, while working with his brother in a galvanized metal company. A compilation of his Ace recordings was issued in the UK in 1999. He died in New Orleans that year at the age of 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Roland 1941 births 1999 deaths Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans 20th-century American singers Singers from Louisiana 20th-century American male singers