The legendary leader of Sly and the Family Stone passed away after a battle with COPD and other health issues.
American funk and soul legend Sly Stone, bandleader of the chart-topping Sly and the Family Stone, has died at age 82.
The three children of the Texas-born, California-raised artist, real name Sylvester Stewart, announced his death on Monday 9th June in an Instagram statement. “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved dad, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone”, they wrote. “After a prolonged battle with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and other underlying health issues, 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”, the Stone children said, then revealed that Stone had “recently completed” a screenplay about his eventful life and music career, following on from his 2024 memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), published by AUWA.
Sly Stone began singing and playing instruments as a kid growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he recorded a gospel single with three of his siblings, Freddie, Rose (both future Family Stone members) and Loretta, as The Stewart Four, at age 13 in 1956. In the ’60s, Stone came up as a radio DJ for local station KSOL, which he began calling “K-SOUL” as he promoted soul music in the programming. By 1966, he’d formed Sly and the Stoners, which evolved into Sly and the Family Stone by ’67 when the group had their first hit single, the enduring ‘Dance to the Music’
Additional hits include 1968’s ‘Everyday People’, 1969’s ‘Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’ and 1971’s ‘Family Affair’.
Following the band’s string of commercially successful early singles and albums, Sly Stone led the production and artistry of the project’s shift towards darker and more political albums, ’71’s ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ — said to be one of the early uses of a drum machine — and ’73’s ‘Fresh’. The influential two still proved to be successful on the charts and with sales, with ‘There’s a Riot Goin’ On’ considered one of the most important albums of the 20th century.
In the lead up to the Family Stone’s final album in 1982, ‘Ain’t but the One Way, Sly Stone released four solo albums, debuting with ‘High on You’ in 1975. He largely stepped out of the public eye as he dealt with his drug addiction and related legal problems through the ’80s. He made an appearance at the 1993 Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame as Sly and the Family Stone was formally inducted, and the 2006 Grammy Awards marked his first public performance in nearly two decades.
