“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone,” revealed the family in a statement.
The multi-instrumentalist, who also battled drug abuse, led the multiracial and mixed rock band Sly and the Family Stone, a rarity in the 1960s.
The band performed a memorable concert at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, taking the stage shortly after 3:00 a.m. on the third day of the legendary event.
“Considering their late performance, Sly and the Family Stone was remarkably rested and in good shape,” noted the festival’s website.
“The Woodstock performance is widely regarded as one of their best shows,” it added.
In just five years, his creativity left an indelible impact on American and global music, from the band’s first hit, ‘Dance to the Music,’ in 1967, and the song ‘Everyday People’ a year later, to the 1970s masterpiece ‘If You Want Me to Stay’.
For many, Sly Stone was a musical genius who created the sound of the future and laid the foundations for artists like Prince, Miles Davis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and OutKast.
“It was like seeing a Black version of the Beatles,” highlighted funk legend George Clinton to CBS News about the onstage presence of his longtime friend.
“He had street sensibility, church sensibility, and Motown qualities. He was all of this in one person,” Clinton emphasized.
However, Sly Stone struggled to cope with the pressure of fame and fell into drug addiction. He missed concerts, his musical production became irregular, and the band disbanded in 1973.
Arrested several times due to drug-related issues, he even became homeless for some time, living in a van before finally breaking free from the downward spiral. In his memoirs, published in 2023, he stated that he successfully overcame addiction in 2019.
Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
