Sly Stone was born as Sylvester Stewart in Denton, Texas in 1943, but grew up in Vallejo, California. Together with his siblings, he formed a quartet, The Stewart Four, and encouraged by his deeply religious parents, the siblings performed in churches with gospel music. As a child, Sly Stone showed himself to be a musical prodigy and mastered several instruments.
During the 1960s, he worked as a DJ at KSOL in San Francisco and produced records for local bands.
Breakthrough
As an artist, Stone broke through at the end of the 1960s in the group named after himself: Sly and the Family Stone. The group combined soul, funk, rock, and psychedelic music, and was one of the first major American groups with both black and white members.
Their breakthrough came with the song "Dance to the music" in 1968, but it was the album "Stand!" the following year that made them superstars. They played at both Woodstock and Summer of Soul and had big hits like "Everyday people". At the same time, the band began to fall apart due to internal conflicts, demands from the Black Panther movement to fire the white members, and Sly Stone himself getting into drug abuse.
After moving to Los Angeles, Stone's life became increasingly chaotic. The recordings became irregular, and the former tight collaboration within the band disappeared. On the album "There's a riot going on" from 1971, he played almost all the instruments himself. Members quit and were replaced, and the band's popularity declined. In the mid-70s, the group disbanded after a disastrous performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Lawsuit against manager
Stone tried a solo career but never reached the same success as with Family Stone. He briefly collaborated with George Clinton and Funkadelic but was plagued by financial problems. In the 2000s, it was revealed that he lived in a motorhome in Los Angeles and that he had sued his former manager for unpaid payments. He was initially awarded five million dollars in damages, but the verdict was later overturned.
At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he made a short but notable appearance with his old group – the first in almost 20 years. Several artists in modern hip-hop have honored him through covers and sampling.
In 2024, Stone's autobiography was published, and according to the family, he recently completed a script for a film about his life.
"We know that his music will continue to live and inspire," the family writes in a statement.
Sly Stone died of complications from lung disease, as well as "other underlying health problems," according to NME.
