Tony! Toni! Toné! musician and co-founder D’Wayne Wiggins died on March 7th. According to a statement posted to his Instagram page, the cause of death was bladder cancer.
Rumors Wiggins had been in hospice started to circulate earlier this week, forcing his family to address the speculation online. As they posted to Instagram, “We wanted to share that D’Wayne Wiggins is experiencing medical complications. He is working through it one day at a time. We know how beloved he is by so many, and we are grateful for your prayers and concern. We also request that you respect the family’s privacy during this time.”
Wiggins was raised in East Oakland and attended Castlemont High School. Aside from his work with Tony! Toni! Toné!, Wiggins established his own recording studio in West Oakland called “House of Music.” and is credited with discovering Destiny’s Child, who would become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time and launch the career of Beyoncé. Wiggins also worked with other major best-selling artists such as Carlos Santana, Too Short, and Alicia Keys.
Tony! Toni! Toné!—comprised of Wiggins, his brother Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Ray Wiggins) and their cousin Timothy Christen Riley—revolutionized R&B in the ’80s and ’90s with their signature blend of traditional soul, new jack swing and contemporary production techniques. They had a penchant for fusing vintage sounds with cutting-edge studio innovations on songs like “Feels Good” and “Lets Get Down” featuring DJ Quik. Their catalog contains a carefully curated selection of soulful ballads and dance anthems that dominated the charts, with a dozen singles reaching Billboard’s Top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop chart between 1988 and 1996.
