June 9 (UPI) — Sly Stone, the legendary Sixties and Seventies funk singer, songwriter and producer of the band, Sly and the Family Stone, died Monday at the age of 82.
Stone, whose hits included “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People” and “Thank You,” had been fighting a “prolonged battle” with lung disease and other health issues when he died, according to his family.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved dad, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone,” his family wrote Monday in a statement.
“Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family. 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.”
Stone was born Sylvester Stewart in Texas in 1943 and released his first single, “On the Battlefield,” with his two sisters and brother, in 1952. A friend’s misspelling of his name during grade school stuck, and he became known as “Sly.”
Stone later found success in California as a disc jockey on KSOL and KDIA, where he “found out about a lot of things I don’t like. Like, I think there shouldn’t be ‘Black radio.’ Just radio. Everybody be a part of everything,” he said.
The musician also worked as a record producer for Autumn Records, where he produced San Francisco-area bands. One of his singles, Bobby Freeman’s “C’mon and Swim,” reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop chart in 1964, while “Somebody to Love” by Grace Slick’s band the Great Society, before Jefferson Airplane, was also a hit.
Sly and the Family Stone was formed in 1966 after he, his sister Rose, brother Freddie and two cousins joined forces, along with other Black and White musicians, to make up one of the first racially mixed bands. Stone was also among the first musicians to do both vocals and play instruments, as can be heard in the funk-infused 1969 hit “Thank You,” where he recounted his life’s successes and addictions.
Stone later called the band’s early morning performance of “I Want to Take You Higher” and the crowd’s reaction at 1969 Woodstock “legendary,” in his 2023 memoir Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).
“The call, the response. It felt like church. The horns went up into the sky. When the show was over, we were wet and cold. I don’t remember how I left, maybe the same way I came in, but I wasn’t there to see Jimi Hendrix close the festival,” Stone wrote.
Other hits, including “Family Affair” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime” followed as the music turned darker to acknowledge the turbulent times of the 1960s and ’70s, which included the Vietnam War, racial tensions and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.
A new documentary produced by Questlove, called Sly Lives! (Aka The Burden of Black Genius), focuses on Stone’s music and torment.
“I think that’s kind of his like, help the medicine go down approach,” Questlove told Rolling Stone in March. “He paints a very dark, lyric, paranoia, self-confessional thing almost in every record, but it’s so happy-sounding.”
Sly and the Family Stone broke apart over Stone’s drug abuse, including his arrest in 1981 when cocaine and freebasing paraphernalia were found in his car. The singer-songwriter went into seclusion after the band called it quits. By 2011, the funk music icon was homeless and living out of a van in Los Angeles, when he was again arrested for cocaine possession and insisted he “was ok.”
In 2015, he was awarded $5 million in a lawsuit against a former manager and attorney who were diverting his royalties. Two years later, he received a lifetime achievement award at The Grammys.
“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.”
