Sly Stone, of the iconic band Sly and the Family Stone, dead at age 82

Sylvester Stewart, who arsenic person of Sly and the Family Stone served up an intoxicating alchemy of soul, stone and R&B to pave the mode for funk music's heyday, has died. He was 82 years old. 

The musician's household confirmed his death in a connection shared with CBC News. 

"It is with profound sadness that we denote the passing of our beloved dad, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone. After a prolonged conflict with [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease] and different underlying wellness issues, Sly passed distant peacefully, surrounded by his 3 children, his closest friend, and his extended family," the connection reads.

"While we mourn his absence, we instrumentality solace successful knowing that his bonzer philharmonic bequest volition proceed to resonate and animate for generations to come."

Stewart, who performed nether the sanction Sly Stone, was a revolutionary instrumentalist and dynamic showman. Sly and the Family Stone transformed fashionable euphony successful the 1960s and '70s and beyond with specified hits arsenic Everyday People, Stand!, and Family Affair.

"His iconic songs person near an indelible people connected the world, and his power remains undeniable," the family's connection continued, adding that "Sly precocious completed the screenplay for his beingness story, a task we are anxious to stock with the satellite successful owed course."

'Variety of soul'

Beginning with Dance to the Music in 1967, Sly and the Family Stone were a beingness connected the apical 40 popular charts for 7 consecutive years, with Billboard No. 1 songs Everyday People, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and Family Affair, arsenic good arsenic hits Hot Fun successful the Summertime, I Want to Take You Higher and If You Want Me to Stay.

At a clip of protests implicit conditions successful interior cities and constabulary killings of Black Americans, arsenic good arsenic an ascendant women's liberation movement, Sly and the Family Stone featured Black and achromatic members, men and women, household and friends. 

"I wanted the set to correspond arsenic overmuch assortment of psyche arsenic possible," Stewart told a tv interviewer successful 1980. 

"I thought if radical could spot that, spot each these antithetic radical having a bully clip connected stage, past it wouldn't beryllium truthful hard for radical to person a bully time, either."

Sly and the Family Stone, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame successful 1993, influenced artists specified arsenic George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band's songs person been covered galore times — Everyday People unsocial has been sung by artists including Aretha Franklin, the Supremes, Joan Jett, Pearl Jam, Belle & Sebastian, Maroon 5, and adjacent Cher and Future successful a 2017 Gap commercial. 

"It goes beyond saying that Sly's originative bequest is successful my DNA... .it's a Black musician's blueprint," said instrumentalist Questlove successful 2022, who went connected to nutrient the 2025 documentary, Sly Lives! (a.k.a. The Burden of Black Genius).

Questlove shared a tribute to the iconic instrumentalist connected Instagram successful the aftermath of his death, penning that "Sly was a elephantine — not conscionable for his groundbreaking enactment with the Family Stone, but for the extremist inclusivity and heavy quality truths helium poured into each note.

"Sly's euphony volition apt talk to america adjacent much present than it did then. Thank you, Sly. You volition everlastingly live," helium added. 

Stewart's charisma arsenic a bandleader, on with his accomplishment arsenic an arranger and producer, person seen him mentioned successful the aforesaid enactment arsenic different psyche visionaries of the epoch specified arsenic Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.

Clive Davis, Stewart's archetypal statement brag and the enforcement who had a manus successful guiding careers of artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Whitney Houston, wrote decades aboriginal that Stone was "leaping implicit boundaries connected truthful galore fronts."

"He seemed truthful vibrant and alive, the hardest-working creator I've ever seen," Davis wrote successful his 2013 autobiography The Soundtrack of My Life.

But to galore euphony critics and fans, his beingness would yet beryllium viewed arsenic a cautionary tale.

Erratic behaviour

​Stewart couldn't prolong his career, displaying erratic behaviour and showing up precocious for concerts, oregon not astatine all. He walled himself disconnected successful homes with defender dogs and bodyguards, friends and colleagues said, wherever helium spent clip making euphony but besides consuming cocaine and PCP.

"The drugs conscionable took him over, determination was truthful overmuch freebase around... My bully person Sylvester Stewart had wholly go Sly Stone," Family Stone saxophonist Jerry Martini told Spin Magazine successful 1985.

Stewart admitted arsenic overmuch successful a 2023  memoir Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again), co-written with Ben Greenman.

"Someone would travel astir with coke oregon angel particulate and I would usage 1 nighttime and past the adjacent nighttime and connected the 3rd that was mostly what was filling the location and connected the 4th I would recognize that I had forgotten to slumber since the nighttime earlier the archetypal night," helium said of 1975, erstwhile helium was astatine slightest inactive producing material.

Stewart's euphony had disappeared from adjacent the R&B charts by the precocious 1970s, and for each intents and purposes, his signaling vocation of archetypal euphony was implicit by 1982, prevention for precise occasional impermanent appearances and collaborations.

The ensuing decades saw troubles of his ain making, with drug-related arrests and stints successful rehab, arsenic good arsenic battles to regain mislaid publishing royalties. He moved frequently, and often with the assistance of benefactors, astatine 1 constituent surviving successful a camper van connected a Los Angeles street.

Stewart was calved the 4th of 5 children to musically inclined parents successful Denton, Texas, connected March 15, 1943. 

"There were 7 of us, and the 8 subordinate of the household was music," helium said successful the 2023 memoir. "We sang astatine location and past we sang astatine church."

The household moved erstwhile helium was a kid to Vallejo, Calif., adjacent San Francisco, and Stewart joined a multiracial a cappella group successful precocious school, the Viscaynes, with the radical getting section vigor play for 1 of their songs successful 1961.

After studying euphony mentation astatine college, helium immersed himself successful the section euphony scene, co-writing a Top 5 deed C'mon and Swim for Bobby Freeman and moving the boards arsenic a shaper connected the Top 20 popular deed Laugh, Laugh by the Beau Brummels.

He besides DJ'ed astatine an country vigor presumption until 1966, wherever helium honed the dynamic Sly Stone persona.

The main players of Sly and the Family Stone assembled successful 1966 and, successful summation to Martini, they would coalesce with Stewart's siblings Freddie connected guitar and Rose connected vocals and keyboards, Gregg Errico connected drums, Cynthia Robinson connected trumpet and Larry Graham connected bass. 

They yet earned a grounds declaration with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records. 

'One of the large crippled changers'

The effect to the group's 1967 debut medium A Whole New Thing was muted, but the merchandise of Dance to the Music the pursuing twelvemonth has been described by euphony historiographer Rickey Vincent arsenic "one of the large crippled changers successful the past of Black fashionable music."

"Almost overnight, the formalized uniforms gave mode to individualized outfits arsenic 'funk bands' sought to observe the individuality of their performers portion generating unity done their irresistible grooves," wrote Vincent successful his publication Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band, and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music.

Dance to the Music hinted astatine the band's kitchen-sink approach, with 4 of the members taking turns connected vocals portion flashing their prowess connected their instruments. 

"We've got to unrecorded together!" Stewart's plea for harmony connected Everyday People, went down easier with the song's nursery-rhyme addendum, "Different strokes for antithetic folks, and truthful connected and truthful connected and scooby-dooby-dooby."

"I wanted it to beryllium a standard, thing that would beryllium up determination with Jingle Bells and Moon River," helium wrote successful his memoir. "That meant a elemental melody with a elemental statement to match."

While not arsenic overtly governmental arsenic Gil Scott-Heron oregon Nina Simone often were, Stewart's catalogue was marked by songs of societal conscience and affirmation — Stand!, You Can Make It If You Try and Everybody Is A Star. 

I Want to Take You Higher was a item of the band's signifier show, with its gospel-influenced call-and-response with the audience, portion Stewart was his astir provocative connected the azygous Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey.

The band's high-water people was arguably 1969, with the merchandise of Stand! and an incendiary show astatine the Woodstock festival.

"I had truthful galore ideas for opus that year: elemental songs, analyzable ones, songs I thought could beryllium standalone singles, experimental things," helium wrote.

The euphony evolved, and mostly slowed down, with 1971's There's a Riot Goin' On, critically acclaimed but hinting astatine the demons astatine hand. That was followed by 1973's Fresh, considered by galore euphony critics his past medium of accordant precocious quality.

Errico near the radical successful 1971, followed a twelvemonth aboriginal by Graham, arsenic their person grew much mercurial and impulsive, highlighted by seemingly impaired appearances connected speech shows, and a wedding successful 1974 held astatine Madison Square Garden for a short-lived marriage. 

CBS parted ways with him aft 1976's Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back, with Stewart landing connected Warner Records for 2 much releases.

Stewart was a spectral beingness successful the 1980s and 1990, appearing connected recordings by Clinton, Maceo Parker and Earth, Wind and Fire, and arriving separately onstage from his bandmates portion offering the precise briefest of comments astatine the group's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

In 2006, helium appeared successful a blond Mohawk and lone tinkered with the keyboards during a multi-act tribute to Sly and the Family Stone astatine the Grammys. Five years later, the medium I'm Back! Family & Friends — mostly a rehash of aged worldly with impermanent artists similar Jeff Beck, Bootsy Collins and Ann Wilson of Heart — was not well-received commercially oregon critically.

After Michael Jackson purchased the planetary rights to the Sly and the Family Stone catalogue successful 1983, Stewart sold the American rights to the band's catalogue to Jackson's property successful 2019.

Stewart is survived by 3 children.