Sly Stone, leader of Sly and the Family Stone, dead aged 82
Sly Stone, a funk-rock star who lead the group Sly and the Family Stone, has died aged 82, his family said.
In a statement on Monday, they said that he died following a "prolonged battle" with COPD and other underlying health issues.
"Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music," his family said. "His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable."
He rose to stardom in the 1960s and 1970s after starting out as a DJ in San Francisco.
Stone, whose real name was Sylvester Stewart, formed Sly and the Family Stone with his sisters and brother at a young age.
Initially that band played gospel music but with time, they became known for blending music styles including psychedelia and funk.
They played a memorable set at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and at the Summer of Soul concert in Harlem that same year.
Stone "recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course", his family said.
The band and Stone struggled in 1970s with some internal strife and drug issues and, while Stone occasionally played played alone, the band booked fewer gigs.
Sly and the Family Stone was inducted into the the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Forever No. 1: Sly & the Family Stone's ‘Everyday People'
Forever No. 1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer — a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single — by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club. Here, we honor Sly Stone, who died on Monday (June 9) at age 82, by looking at the first of Sly & the Family Stone's three Hot 100-toppers: the simple, yet profound 'Everyday People.' Sly & the Family Stone, a genre-fluid, interracial, mixed-gender group (at a time when all three things were unique) was formed in San Francisco in 1966. The group was led by Sly Stone, a musical prodigy who was just 23 at the time. His main claim-to-fame at that point is that he had produced a string of hits for the pop/rock group The Beau Brummels, including 'Laugh, Laugh' and 'Just a Little.' More from Billboard Sly Stone Dead at 82 DJ Akademiks Denies Taking Payola From Drake During Kendrick Battle Raekwon and Ghostface Killah Release Trailer for 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' Documentary Sly & the Family Stone made the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1968 with its first chart hit, 'Dance to the Music.' That funky celebration of dance music wasn't topical at all, but after the stunning events of 1968 – a year of assassinations, riots and a war without end in Vietnam – acts almost had to say something, and Sly & the Family Stone did on 'Everyday People,' which was released that November. The song is a plea for understanding and racial unity, which is so understated in its approach that it's easy to lose sight of just how progressive its sentiments seemed in 1968. The record has a gentle tone and a disarming opening line: 'Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong/ My own beliefs are in my song.' Who ever starts out a conversation by conceding 'I can be wrong?' The sense of urgency and passion picks up on the proclamation 'I am everyday people!' which is repeated three times during the song, and then on the call to action 'We got to live together,' which is repeated twice. Stone, who was born Sylvester Stewart, wrote and produced 'Everyday People.' His genius move on this song was to simplify the discussion to the level of a childhood playground taunt – 'There is a yellow one that won't accept the Black one/ That won't accept the red one that won't accept the white one/ Different strokes for different folks/And so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby.' The unspoken, but unmistakable, message: Isn't all this division really pretty childish? Sly makes the point even more directly in the second verse: 'I am no better and neither are you/ We are the same whatever we do.' The reasonableness of his argument instantly disarms any detractors. The song's politics are expressed most directly in the third verse, in the song's depiction of counter-culture types vs. establishment types; progressives vs. conservatives. 'There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair/For being such a rich one that will not help the poor one.' The bridges of the song contain the line 'different strokes for different folks,' which was initially popularized by Muhammad Ali. It became a popular catchphrase in 1969 (and inspired the name of a 1978-86 TV sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes). Sly wisely kept the record short – the childlike sections, which are charming in small doses, would have become grating if the record had overstayed its welcome. The record runs just 2:18, shorter than any other No. 1 hit of 1969. Three Dog Night took a similar approach on 'Black & White,' which was a No. 1 hit in September 1972 – putting a plea for racial unity and brotherhood in simple, grade-school language. Three Dog's record isn't as timeless or memorable as 'Everyday People,' but it shows Sly's influence. 'Everyday People' entered the Hot 100 at No. 93 for the week ending Nov. 30, 1968. You might assume that a record this catchy and classic shot to the top quickly, but it took a while. In the week ending Jan. 11, 1969, it inched up from No. 27 to No. 26, looking like it might not even match 'Dance to the Music''s top 10 ranking. But then it caught fire. The following week, it leapt to No. 15, then No. 5, then No. 2 for a couple of weeks behind Tommy James & the Shondells' 'Crimson and Clover,' before finally reaching the top spot in the week ending Feb. 15. It stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, the longest stay of Sly's career. The song was of a piece with such other socially-aware No. 1 hits as Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' (1967) and The Rascals' 'People Got to Be Free' (1968). 'Everyday People' remained on the Hot 100 for 19 weeks, a personal best for Sly, and wound up as the No. 5 song of 1969 on Billboard's year-end chart recap. The song was included on the group's fourth studio album, Stand!, which was released in May 1969. The album reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 102 weeks – also a personal best for the group. The album, which also featured 'Sing a Simple Song,' 'Stand!' and 'I Want to Take You Higher,' was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2014 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015. The band included 'Everyday People' in their set at Woodstock on Aug. 17, 1969. Fun Fact: It was the only No. 1 Hot 100 hit performed by the original artist during that landmark three-day festival. The song is widely acknowledged as a classic. Rolling Stone had it at No. 109 on its 2024 update of its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Billboard included it on its 2023 list of the 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List. (We had it way down at No. 293, clearly proving the wisdom of Sly's opening line, 'Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong.') While Sly was bedeviled by personal demons that shortened his run at the top, he lived to get his flowers. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 (in its first year of eligibility). On his own, Sly received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2017. Numerous artists covered 'Everyday People' in the wake of Sly's recording. Between 1969 and 1972, the song was featured on Billboard 200 albums by The Supremes, Ike & Tina Turner, The Winstons, Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Supremes & Four Tops, Billy Paul and Dionne Warwick. Spend any time on YouTube and you can also find cover versions of 'Everyday People' by everyone from Peggy Lee to Pearl Jam (who performed it in concert in 1995). Other artists who took a stab at it: Aretha Franklin, The Staple Singers, William Bell, Belle & Sebastian, Maroon 5 (on a 2005 remix and cover album Different Strokes by Different Folks) and the unlikely team of Cher and Future, who covered it for a 2017 Gap ad that has recently gone viral. A couple artists even had Hot 100 hits with their new spins on the song. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts covered the song in 1983 and took it to No. 37. Arrested Development drew heavily from the song for their 1993 hit 'People Everyday,' which reached No. 8. (The song used the chorus and basic structure of the original, with new verses written by lead singer Speech.) Sly & the Family Stone nearly landed a second No. 1 hit in 1969, but 'Hot Fun in the Summertime' stalled at No. 2 for two weeks in October behind The Temptations' 'I Can't Get Next to You.' 'Hot Fun' wound up at No. 7 on the aforementioned year-end Hot 100 recap, making Sly the only act with two songs in the year-end top 10. Questlove, who directed the 2025 documentary Sly Lives (aka The Burden of Black Genius), shared a touching tribute to the icon on Instagram on Monday. 'Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, left this earth today, but the changes he sparked while here will echo forever … He dared to be simple in the most complex ways — using childlike joy, wordless cries, and nursery rhyme cadences to express adult truths.' That last part was a clear reference to 'Everyday People.' Questlove also recalled what he called that song's 'eternal cry' – 'We got to live together!' Said Quest: 'Once idealistic, now I hear it as a command. Sly's music will likely speak to us even more now than it did then. Thank you, Sly. You will forever live.' Later this week: Two additional Sly & the Family Stone No. 1s take the group into darker and murkier territory, with similarly spellbinding results. 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Chicago Tribune
5 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: The influence of Brian Wilson, Sly Stone and … St. Charles?
Brian Wilson, the musical mastermind behind the Beach Boys, died at the age of 82, his family announced Wednesday. Earlier this week came news of the passing of Sly Stone, 82, whose startling originality combining elements of gospel, rock and soul enthralled audiences and fellow artists alike in the late '60s and early '70s recordings of Sly and the Family Stone. Both men were bona fide musical giants. Though their music was similar only in being groundbreaking, Wilson and Stone's lives followed similar, tragic narrative arcs. Both reached artistic peaks achieved by few others in pop music over periods of just a few years. Both were masters of the recording studio at a time when most artists left that part of their work to producers and focused on live performance. And both suffered from the ravages of drug abuse and mental illness for much of the remainder of their lives, making their many fans mourn for what more they could have offered. But what they created in their primes served as inspiration for legions of artists to come. Prince, Public Enemy and OutKast counted Sly Stone as a major influence. Wilson's lush, deceptively sophisticated harmonies and instrumentation were foundational for too many orchestral pop artists to count, and thanks to his epic rivalry with the Beatles in the mid-'60s, they pushed each other to greater heights. The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' stirred Wilson to create his masterpiece, the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' which then inspired the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' Speaking of 'Rubber Soul,' Wilson told the Tribune a little over a decade ago, 'I was so blown away by that damn album that I went and wrote ('God Only Knows.') Paul McCartney subsequently called Wilson's work of genius possibly the greatest song ever written. Wilson set out to top the Fab Four yet again with what would have been 'Smile,' but threw in the towel on that legendary 'lost album' amid intra-band acrimony and debilitating mental health issues. Stone and Wilson both were children of California, but we choose to remember the brief but fascinating role of west suburban St. Charles in Wilson's life. Having remarried and feeling revived, Wilson moved to the suburb in the late 1990s to live near producer Joe Thomas, who worked on Wilson's 1998 comeback album, 'Imagination.' Wilson, an iconic Southern Californian, didn't learn to love Midwestern winters and in a few years' time moved back to where he once belonged. But we like to think our slightly less glamorous region played a significant role in Wilson's latter-years career resurgence that followed from what we'll call 'the St. Charles years,' topped by his 2004 celebrated re-creation with a stellar band of his vision for 'Smile.' God only knows what we'd do without the immense musical legacies Wilson and Stone left us this week.
Newsweek
13 hours ago
- Newsweek
Hysterics As Millennial Mom Plays Her 90s Playlist for Teen Son: 'His Face'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Social-media users have hailed a millennial mom who is determined to educate her teenage son on some of the most-iconic 90s and 2000s songs—although he isn't too impressed. Back in the good old days of the 90s, Carmen Moreno Aultman used to love blasting out her favorite songs on her Sony Walkman before meeting friends at the club. They would dance the night away to Ludacris, Spice Girls, and Usher, and everything felt so joyous. While life is certainly different in 2025, Aultman, now 43, still can't get enough of those club classics. She told Newsweek that listening to those older songs "takes [her] back to being a teenager again." So, whether she is on the school run or just in her Greenville, South Carolina, home, Aultman will undoubtedly be playing music from the 90s or early 2000s. She even loves introducing that generation of music to her 14-year-old son, Stone, at every opportunity. Carmen Moreno Aultman and her teenage son Stone listen to 90s music in the car. Carmen Moreno Aultman and her teenage son Stone listen to 90s music in the car. @carmenann40 / Instagram "As a teenager in the 90s, I loved all types of music, from alternative, pop music, rap, pop rock, and alternative rock," Aultman said. "When I hear certain songs, I can remember an exact moment from my life." The millennial mom loves reliving those days through the music, but Stone usually gives her "the head shake" accompanied by an unimpressed straight face. Oftentimes, he will ask her, "this again?" when she plays yet another Ludacris track. But that won't stop Aultman, who said she thinks it is going to be hard for any current music to top the 90s songs. "My teenage son thinks that most of the music I like is boring or cringe, but I personally think that 90s and 2000s music is better than the music of today," she continued. Aultman shared a hilarious video on Instagram (@carmenann40) showing the music education she is giving her son. As she played 90s music in the car, and put on quite the lip-synching performance, Stone's facial expression remained unamused. The clip has delighted social-media users, leading to more than 8.3 million views and over 357,000 likes on Instagram at the time of writing. Layered over the video, the caption jokes: "When you have to listen to your mom's playlist." Aultman has been blown away by the online response, adding that internet users seem to have related strongly to the clip. Even though her son doesn't enjoy her music that much, Aultman loves that her millennial mom anthem can bring a smile to so many people. Indeed, in just a matter of days, the viral post has amassed over 10,000 comments on Instagram so far. One comment reads: "There will never be another time like the clubs in the 90s and early 2000s." Another Instagram user wrote: "Your son's continual blank expression … so real." A third person added: "They just don't make 'em like they used to." Another comment reads: "How are we the parents now?" Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
