D’Wayne Wiggins, Founding Tony! Toni! Toné! Guitarist, Dead at 64

D’Wayne Wiggins, the guitarist and singer who co-founded R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné! and later produced early songs for Destiny’s Child, has died. He was 64. Wiggins died “this morning surrounded by family and loved ones” after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, according to a statement posted to Instagram. “Through this fight, he remained committed and present for his family, his music, his fans and his community,” his family stated. Two days before, on March 5, the band first shared that Wiggins was “experiencing medical complications.”

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After Wiggins’s younger brother, Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Wiggins), returned from touring with Prince, they formed Tony! Toni! Toné with their cousin Timothy Christian Riley. The band experienced immediate success when their debut single, “Little Walter,” hit No. 1 on the then-named Hot Black Singles chart in 1988. The song interpolated a melody from the African American spiritual “Wade in the Water” in the budding style of new jack swing. Their 1990 follow-up album, The Revival, sent four songs to the top of the eventually renamed Hot R&B Singles chart — including “Feels Good,” a crossover hit that peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100. Their crossover success continued on the 1993 album Sons of Soul, which sent two more singles, “If I Had No Loot” and “Anniversary,” to the Hot 100’s Top 10.

Following Sons of Soul, the group took a hiatus, during which Wiggins began producing for the then-new R&B group Destiny’s Child. He produced four songs on their 1998 self-titled debut and continued working with the group on their following albums, The Writing’s on the Wall and Survivor. At the same time, Wiggins returned to Tony! Toni! Toné! for a final album, House of Music, in 1996. He later released a solo album, Eyes Never Lie, in 2000, featuring musicians including Darius Rucker and Santana. He also continued performing as Tony! Toni! Toné with Riley, even though Saadiq left after House of Music. In 2003, he and Riley collaborated with Alicia Keys on her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, including on the Grammy-nominated song “Diary.”

Wiggins rejoined Tony! Toni! Toné! for a reunion tour in 2023. “Being back together, it felt like the energy was right,” Saadiq told Vulture that year. “I was good by myself, and they did okay on their own, but I’m better with the guys.”

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• ‘I Was Good by Myself. I’m Better With the Guys.’