Sly Stone, leader of funk revolutionaries Sly And The Family Stone, dies aged 82
Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor health in recent years.
His publicist Carleen Donovan said that Stone died surrounded by family after contending with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other ailments.
Formed in 1966-67, Sly And The Family Stone were the first major group to include black and white men and women, and well embodied a time when anything seemed possible - riots and assassinations, communes and love-ins.
The singers screeched, chanted, crooned and hollered.
The music was a blowout of frantic horns, rapid-fire guitar and locomotive rhythms, a melting pot of jazz, psychedelic rock, doo-wop, soul and the early grooves of funk.
Sly's time on top was brief, roughly from 1968-1971, but profound.
No band better captured the gravity-defying euphoria of the Woodstock era or more bravely addressed the crash which followed.
From early songs as rousing as their titles - I Want To Take You Higher, Stand! - to the sober aftermath of Family Affair and Runnin' Away, Sly And The Family Stone spoke for a generation whether or not it liked what they had to say.
Stone's group began as a Bay Area outfit featuring Sly on keyboards; Larry Graham on bass; Sly's brother, Freddie, on guitar; sister Rose on vocals; Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini on horns; and Greg Errico on drums.
They debuted with the album A Whole New Thing and earned the title with their breakthrough single Dance To The Music.
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It hit the top 10 in April 1968, the week the Rev Martin Luther King was murdered, and helped launch an era when the polish of Motown and the understatement of Stax suddenly seemed of another time.
Led by Sly Stone, with his leather jumpsuits and goggle shades, mile-wide grin and mile-high Afro, the band dazzled in 1969 at the Woodstock festival and set a new pace on the radio.
Everyday People, I Wanna Take You Higher and other songs were anthems of community, non-conformity and a brash and hopeful spirit, built around such catchphrases as "different strokes for different folks".
The group released five top 10 singles, three of them hitting number one, and three million-selling albums: Stand!, There's A Riot Goin' On and Greatest Hits.
For a time, countless performers wanted to look and sound like Sly And The Family Stone.
The Jackson Five's breakthrough hit I Want You Back and The Temptations' I Can't Get Next To You were among the many songs from the late 1960s that mimicked Sly's vocal and instrumental arrangements.
Miles Davis' landmark blend of jazz, rock and funk, Bitches Brew, was inspired in part by Sly, while fellow jazz artist Herbie Hancock even named a song after him.
"He had a way of talking, moving from playful to earnest at will. He had a look, belts, and hats and jewelry," Questlove wrote in the foreword to Stone's memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), named for one of his biggest hits and published through Questlove's imprint in 2023.
"He was a special case, cooler than everything around him by a factor of infinity."
In 2025, Questlove released the documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden Of Black Genius).
Sly's influence has endured for decades.
The top funk artist of the 1970s, Parliament-Funkadelic creator George Clinton, was a Stone disciple.
Prince, Rick James and The Black Eyed Peas were among the many performers from the 1980s and after influenced by Sly, and countless rap and hip-hop artists have sampled his riffs, from the Beastie Boys to Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg.
A 2005 tribute record included Maroon 5, John Legend and the Roots.
"Sly did so many things so well that he turned my head all the way around," Clinton once wrote.
"He could create polished R&B that sounded like it came from an act that had gigged at clubs for years, and then in the next breath he could be as psychedelic as the heaviest rock band."
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Extra.ie
8 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Tributes pour in as music industry icon dead at 82
Sly Stone, the American funk and soul pioneer and leader of the group Sly and the Family Stone has died aged 82. After a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues, Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family, his family announced in a statement. While we mourn his absence, we take solace in knowing that his extraordinary musical legacy will continue to resonate and inspire for generations to come. With their blend of soul, psychedelic rock and gospel, Sly and The Family Stone are widely considered to be some of the key progenitors of the 1970s funk sound alongside James Brown and others. Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, grew up singing gospel music in a quartet with his brothers and sisters, and started his career as a disc jockey for radio stations in California, as well as a multi-instrumentalist and producer. In 1966, he fused his band Sly and the Stoners with his brother Freddie's group Freddie and the Stone Souls, to form Sly and the Family Stone. Their breakthrough came through the 1967 single Dance to the Music, which reached No.8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, before they released their fourth album, the 1969 Stand! , which went on to sell over three million copies. In 1969, Sly and the Family Stone played both of the defining music festivals of the year, Woodstock and the Harlem cultural festival. The 1971 album There's a Riot Goin On , a reflection on civil rights and the corrupted idealism of the postwar era, was recorded by Stone predominantly apart from the rest of his band, which was slowly fracturing in the early 70s. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, and featured one of the earliest uses of a drum machine. Although the band split entirely in 1975, Stone continued to use the band name for solo releases. He continued to perform with bands such as Funkadelic and Bobby Womack before releases slowly quieted down. He only performed in public again in 2006 in a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone at the Grammy awards. Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music, the family statement added. His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable. In a testament to his enduring creative spirit, Sly recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course, which follows a memoir published in 2024.
Irish Times
14 hours ago
- Irish Times
Sly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82
Sly Stone , the American musician who lit up generations of dance floors with his gloriously funky and often socially conscious songwriting, has died aged 82. 'After a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues, Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family,' a family statement read. 'While we mourn his absence, we take solace in knowing that his extraordinary musical legacy will continue to resonate and inspire for generations to come.' With his group Sly and the Family Stone, Stone tied together soul, psychedelic rock and gospel into fervent, uplifting songs, and became one of the key progenitors of the 1970s funk sound alongside James Brown and others. The group's hits include three US No 1 singles – Everyday People, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and Family Affair – plus Dance to the Music, I Want to Take You Higher, Hot Fun in the Summertime and more. READ MORE The 1971 album There's a Riot Goin' On, a moody reflection on civil rights and the corrupted idealism of the postwar era created predominantly by Stone apart from the rest of his band, is widely regarded as one of the greatest of the 20th century. Among those paying tribute to Stone was musician and actor Queen Latifah, who heralded an 'innovator [and] funk aficionado.' Waterboys frontman Mike Scott wrote: 'Thank you for all the inspiration, for breaking ground so others could follow and for being the sassiest, funkiest being on planet earth'. Born Sylvester Stewart to a Pentecostal religious family in Texas in 1943, Stone grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. His first music came in a gospel quartet with three siblings, the Stewart Four, who put out a locally released single in 1952. As a young man he became well known in the fertile musical scene of countercultural San Francisco: a multi-instrumentalist and radio DJ who had a series of local bands and worked as a producer for garage rock and psychedelia groups such as the Beau Brummels. In 1966, he fused his band Sly and the Stoners with his brother Freddie's group Freddie and the Stone Souls, to form Sly and the Family Stone. Their breakthrough came the following year with Dance to the Music, and success was fully established by their fourth album in two years, Stand! (1969), which eventually sold more than three million copies. The band's stylistic and racial diversity attracted a broad audience, and they played both of the defining music festivals of 1969, Woodstock and the Harlem cultural festival. Hits continued more fitfully during the early 1970s, and the group – notorious for no-shows at concerts – slowly fractured amid increasing drug use. Stone would record There's a Riot Goin' On predominantly on his own, applying one of the earliest uses of a drum machine; albums such as Fresh!, with its Richard Avedon portrait of Stone on the cover, were also primarily his work. The band split entirely in 1975, though Stone continued to use the band name for solo releases. Despite having laid the rhythmic groundwork for disco, Stone couldn't sustain his career in the late 1970s, and his addiction to cocaine worsened. He continued to perform with peers such as Funkadelic and Bobby Womack, but album releases dried up after 1982's Ain't But the One Way. He was arrested in 1983 for cocaine possession, and for driving under the influence of cocaine in 1987, prompting him to flee California for Connecticut. He was apprehended two years later, and sentenced to 55 days in prison, five years' probation and a fine. Travel on well SLY STONE 1943-2025, singer, songwriter, musical director, producer, frontman, funkster, pioneer, genius. Thankyou for all the inspiration, for breaking ground so others could follow and for being the sassiest, funkiest Being on planet earth. — Mike Scott (@MickPuck) His difficulties meant that he was little seen during the 1990s, and it wasn't until 2006 that he performed in public again, at a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone at the Grammy awards. He performed with the Family Stone on a tour the following year, but often erratically, and made a lacklustre appearance at 2010's Coachella festival. His final album, I'm Back! Family & Friends, featuring re-recordings of old songs alongside three new tracks, was released in 2011. In 2015 he was awarded $5m in a lawsuit against his former manager and attorney, successfully arguing that royalty payments had been diverted from him, though he ultimately wasn't awarded the money due to the terms of a 1989 royalties agreement with a production company. Difficulties with royalties meant that Stone spent many of his latter years in poverty; in 2011 he was living in a camper van in a residential area of Los Angeles – voluntarily, he claimed – and relying on a retired couple for food. 'Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music,' the family statement added. 'His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable. In a testament to his enduring creative spirit, Sly recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course, which follows a memoir published in 2024.' That memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), was praised in a Guardian review: 'The charm, playfulness, humour and personality of Stone's songs come through in his on-page voice'. In a 2023 interview with the Guardian accompanying its publication, he said: 'I was always happy if someone took the things I was doing and they liked them enough to want to do them on their own. I'm proud that the music I made inspired people.' Stone was married from 1974 to 1976 to Kathy Silva, with whom he had a son, Sylvester Jr. He later had two further children: Sylvyette with Cynthia Robinson, and Novena Carmel. – Guardian
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Funk and soul music trailblazer Sly Stone dies, aged 82
Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly And The Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond with such hits as Everyday People, Stand! and Family Affair, has died aged 82. Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor health in recent years. His publicist Carleen Donovan said that Stone died surrounded by family after contending with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other ailments. Formed in 1966-67, Sly And The Family Stone were the first major group to include black and white men and women, and well embodied a time when anything seemed possible - riots and assassinations, communes and love-ins. The singers screeched, chanted, crooned and hollered. The music was a blowout of frantic horns, rapid-fire guitar and locomotive rhythms, a melting pot of jazz, psychedelic rock, doo-wop, soul and the early grooves of funk. Sly's time on top was brief, roughly from 1968-1971, but profound. No band better captured the gravity-defying euphoria of the Woodstock era or more bravely addressed the crash which followed. From early songs as rousing as their titles – I Want To Take You Higher, Stand! - to the sober aftermath of Family Affair and Runnin' Away, Sly And The Family Stone spoke for a generation whether or not it liked what they had to say. Stone's group began as a Bay Area outfit featuring Sly on keyboards; Larry Graham on bass; Sly's brother, Freddie, on guitar; sister Rose on vocals; Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini on horns; and Greg Errico on drums. They debuted with the album A Whole New Thing and earned the title with their breakthrough single Dance To The Music. It hit the top 10 in April 1968, the week the Rev Martin Luther King was murdered, and helped launch an era when the polish of Motown and the understatement of Stax suddenly seemed of another time. Led by Sly Stone, with his leather jumpsuits and goggle shades, mile-wide grin and mile-high Afro, the band dazzled in 1969 at the Woodstock festival and set a new pace on the radio. Everyday People, I Wanna Take You Higher and other songs were anthems of community, non-conformity and a brash and hopeful spirit, built around such catchphrases as "different strokes for different folks." The group released five top 10 singles, three of them hitting number one, and three million-selling albums: Stand!, There's A Riot Goin' On and Greatest Hits. For a time, countless performers wanted to look and sound like Sly And The Family Stone. The Jackson Five's breakthrough hit I Want You Back and The Temptations' I Can't Get Next To You were among the many songs from the late 1960s that mimicked Sly's vocal and instrumental arrangements. Miles Davis' landmark blend of jazz, rock and funk, Bitches Brew, was inspired in part by Sly, while fellow jazz artist Herbie Hancock even named a song after him. "He had a way of talking, moving from playful to earnest at will. He had a look, belts, and hats and jewellery," Questlove? wrote in the foreword to Stone's memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), named for one of his biggest hits and published through Questlove's imprint in 2023. "He was a special case, cooler than everything around him by a factor of infinity." In 2025, Questlove released the documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden Of Black Genius). Sly's influence has endured for decades. The top funk artist of the 1970s, Parliament-Funkadelic creator George Clinton, was a Stone disciple. Prince, Rick James and The Black Eyed Peas were among the many performers from the 1980s and after influenced by Sly, and countless rap and hip-hop artists have sampled his riffs, from the Beastie Boys to Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. A 2005 tribute record included Maroon 5, John Legend and the Roots. "Sly did so many things so well that he turned my head all the way around," Clinton once wrote. "He could create polished R&B that sounded like it came from an act that had gigged at clubs for years, and then in the next breath he could be as psychedelic as the heaviest rock band."
