Sly Stone, Funk-Rock Pioneer Who Led the Family Stone, Dies at 82 [View all]
Source: Variety
Jun 9, 2025 12:26pm PT
Sly Stone, the multitalented musician whose path-finding, psychedelia-laced funk enraptured Woodstock Nation in the late ’60s and early ’70s, has died. He was 82.
“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,” a statement from his family reads. “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 family statement added that Stone “recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course.”
As songwriter, producer, arranger, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and showman supreme, 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Stone led his group Sly and the Family Stone to the top of the charts with a series of energetic, oft-experimental singles and albums, which fused forward-looking, bottom-heavy soul with rock power.
His life and career were documented earlier this year by Grammy and Oscar-winning “Summer of Soul” director Questlove in “Sly Lives: aka the Burden of Black Genius,” which also features unfiltered commentary from multiple Black artists about the pressures that come with success.
Read more: https://variety.com/2025/music/news/sly-stone-dead-funk-rock-pioneer-family-stone-1236423831/
Damn. And they just had that movie out about his life too. R.I.P.
I remember my dad was in that Colombia House Record Club and got their Greatest Hits album (shown in the above) around when it came out in 1970. I think I still have it in a crate in the basement. Lots of amazing songs that they have done and that have been covered and sampled over the years.
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