Angela Stribling, beloved BET host and jazz singer, dies at 58 after brain cancer battle

Stribling helped define BET’s early years before building a celebrated career in radio, voiceover and jazz.

Angela Stribling, whose warm presence helped shape BET’s early years and whose voice became synonymous with Washington, D.C.’s media landscape, has died after a battle with brain cancer. She was 58. She passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, September 26, after a two-year battle with brain cancer, according to a statement from her husband, Ken Washington, shared through WHUR 96.3 FM. Her husband and sister Darlene were by her side.

Stribling became one of BET’s early on-air personalities, spending four years hosting “Screen Scene,” the network’s entertainment news program. She later helped launch BET Jazz, hosting “Jazz Central” alongside Ramsey Lewis and Lou Rawls, as well as “BET Jazz Discovery” and “BET Jazz Scene.” As reported by USA Today, her career also included a cameo as a television anchor in the 1992 Eddie Murphy film ‘The Distinguished Gentleman’.

Former BET colleague Ed Gordon remembered Stribling as “a sweet soul,” while mourning another loss for the BET family. At WHUR, Angela Stribling became the first woman to host the station’s “Original Quiet Storm,” a format that began at Howard University in 1976. She later hosted “Pillow Talk with Angela,” becoming a familiar late-night voice for Washington-area listeners.

She was also a classically trained jazz vocalist who performed internationally and shared stages with artists including Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan. In a birthday post in October 2025, Stribling acknowledged that she had experienced what she called the most challenging year of her life because of a “surprising health challenge.” “I’m grateful to God for another year of LIFE! Actually, I’m grateful for every single moment!”

Angela Stribling’s career was woven into some of the most important institutions in Black media. From BET’s early television programming to BET Jazz and Washington’s “Quiet Storm” tradition, her work helped create spaces where Black music, culture and conversation could reach national audiences. Her career also reflected the versatility that has long defined Black broadcasting—from television and radio to music, voiceover work and live performance.

WHUR General Manager Sean Plater described Stribling as a remarkable talent whose “voice was beautiful, her presence was calming, and her spirit was genuine.” Her voice may now be off the air, but the imprint she left on Black television, radio and jazz culture remains.