Latest news with #funk
Telegraph
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Sly Stone invented modern music, then disappeared in a cloud of crack smoke (here are his best five songs to listen to now)
Sly Stone has died, aged 82. You could say that the music world has lost a giant talent, were it not for the sad truth that Sly was lost to the world, and to his own talent, a long, long time ago. Certainly, he was a giant once, and the fabulous music he made in his pomp is still very much alive and percolating through pop culture. A prodigiously gifted multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter, producer and bandleader, Sylvester Stewart aka Sly Stone was an innovator who pushed modern music into new territory and shifted the dial of pop culture. The six albums he made with the original lineup of his inspirational, multiracial, mixed-gender ensemble Sly and the Family Stone – from their groundbreaking funk-pop debut A Whole New Thing, in 1967, to the stoned masterpiece There's A Riot Goin' On, in 1971 – remain one of the high watermarks of the rock and pop era. It was a scorching hot streak on which a precocious young genius established new blueprints for progressive dance music that have been imitated, exploited, reworked, adapted, played with and built upon ever since. Stone became arguably the most popular and critically acclaimed black American superstar of his moment. And then, at the height of his fame and influence, he crashed and burned in a paranoid, talent-sapping cloud of cocaine, angel dust and crack. If Stone has not been as universally celebrated as his talent warrants, it is because he became almost as well known for his rampant drug abuse as for his music, which declined precipitously in quality as his drug use increased. For a few fantastic years in the late 1960s and early 70s, Sly was a chart-topping wizard whose bold blends influenced Miles Davis's shift towards jazz funk, inspired the psychedelic experiments of Parliament and Funkadelic and pushed even such established Motown stars as The Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder into new realms of socially conscious soul. But Stone fell from grace in public, becoming notorious for not turning up to concerts, giving TV interviews while intoxicated, his colourful fashion sense creeping towards self-parody as his records strained to keep up with pop trends he had once led from the front. By the 1980s, he was in and out of jail, with an extensive rap sheet for drug offences. For a period in the 2000s, things had become so bad that Stone was reported to be homeless, living out of a camper van in a rundown area of Los Angeles. It is not a pretty tale, no matter how he tried to gloss over it in his evasive 2023 memoir Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). But lest we are tempted to turn Stone's life into another sad parable about the price of fame and fortune, there is something we should remember: the music. Because Stone's hot streak is still glowing fiercely, decades after its damaged creator lit the fuse. Sylvester Stewart was raised singing and playing in church choirs and gospel groups, in a musical family (two of whom joined him in the Family Stone) where his status as a prodigy had been recognised by the time he was four. In his early 20s. he became an influential San Francisco radio DJ, session musician, songwriter and record producer, working with black and white artists in genres spanning soul, pop and rock (including a young Grace Slick, for whom he produced the first version of her signature song Somebody To Love with her original band, The Great Society). By the time he formed The Family Stone in 1966, he already had a vision of a multiracial group whose sound could span all the genres he loved. 'I was searching for a different type of music,' he once explained. 'I dug (Bob) Dylan, (Ray) Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Staples Singers and the Beatles. It was all music, and it should all be together.' Sometimes playing keyboards, sometimes guitar, always directing and encouraging his supremely gifted six-piece band, Stone made records that crossed over from segregated black stations to mainstream pop radio, with sounds that established thrillingly limber and funky rhythms (Larry Graham's pioneering slap bass was a feature), melodies that shifted from unison chants to blissful harmonies, and lyrics that expressed socially progressive ideas responding to the imperatives of a hippy generation concerned about war, peace and civil rights. If you have been listening to pop in our times, you surely know some of Sly Stones' songs: the incredible 1967 banger Dance to the Music; the glorious 1968 anthem of racial unity Everyday People; and the bruised soul stew of 1971's Family Affair, made when paranoia, disillusion and darkening political times were casting a shadow over Stone's innate optimism. The drugs that he had begun consuming in vast quantities certainly didn't help. 1969's Stand! album might by Sly and the Family Stone's most inspirational explosion of progressive psychedelic funk but its rawer, dirtier, darker follow up is the one that has remained in the ether. Constantly high (it has been claimed he was on drugs for the entire two and a half years it took to make), Stone retreated to a studio in his mansion in the plush LA suburb of Bel Air and recorded There's a Riot Goin' On mostly by himself, only bringing in band members as he saw fit. When, in 1971, drummer Greg Errico became the first of the once tight-knit Family to quit (beginning a gradual exodus), Stone started using a primitive machine called a Rhythm Box instead, finding ways to trick its simplistic presets into producing odd, offbeat patterns. A raw, strange work of bleak but soulful disillusionment with the American dream, it caught the mood of the times and went to number one on the US Billboard charts. In his book 1971, British music journalist David Hepworth has argued that it has become the most influential record of that seminal year, noting 'there's a whole world of moody, hypnotic, rhythm-box based music which would be inconceivable without its example. In fact, the whole category known by the contemporary shorthand 'urban' can be traced back to what Sly did in the decidedly suburban surroundings of Bel Air.' Like much of Sly's distinctive work it has been heavily sampled by hip-hop artists. You can hear his music in hits by such major rap stars as Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, The Jungle Brothers, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Cypress Hill, The Roots and Missy Elliot, alongside such unlikely bedfellows as Lenny Kravitz, Primal Scream, Madonna and Janet Jackson (whose signature 1989 hit rhythm nation is built from a Sly Stone guitar riff). Of all the artists to carry his legacy, Prince was the most obviously indebted to him, another gifted multi-instrumentalist wizard, leading multiracial, mixed-genre bands. An excellent recent documentary, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) by Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson offers sympathetic insights into the turbulence that marked Stone's creative life. Available on Disney+, it concludes with footage showing an old, smiling Stone with his adult children and grandchildren. It seems he finally got clean in his late seventies, after multiple serious health scares, and it is touching to hear his children take such obvious pride in finally getting to spend quality time with a father who had been barely present in their lives. The truth is, whatever his flaws and his demons, Sly Stone had a huge impact on countless lives. In one moment that leaps out from the film, a 1970's TV interviewer dares to suggest that Stone had fulfilled a particular American musical cliché, 'you get to the top and then you blow it.' Stone beams the biggest, warmest smile you could ever hope to see and tells her 'I didn't blow nothing.' In the great scheme of things, when Stone has gone but his music lingers on, who's to say he's wrong? Sly Stone: Five essential songs 1. I Wanna Take You Higher (1969) I'm not sure there have been many songs funkier than this punchy, horn driven chant, with Sly on harmonica, Freddie Stone on bluesy guitar, and the band sharing vocal duties as they insist on taking us ever higher and higher. 'Boom shacka lacka lacka!' 2. It's a Family Affair (1971) The first drum machine driven hit, low slung and bubbling, with a slack voiced Sly growling his way through a lyric suggesting disillusion with the complexities of family relations, whilst his sister Rose's counterpoint vocals reaches out like a salve. 3. Everyday People (1968) A pulsing rhythm underpins pianist Rose Stone and trumpeter Cynthia Robertson's almost nursery rhyme chant about diversity and equality ('different strokes for different folks'), whilst Sly tops it off with his soulful cries of 'I-I-I am everyday people.' Soulful pop with an uplifting message. 4. Dance to the Music (1968) His first hit, and still one of the great dancefloor fillers, an insistent chant over a modified Motown beat, with the whole band taking solos at Sly's urging, whilst he pushes them on with his splashy Hammond organ and wailing vocal instructions. 5. Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1969) Larry Graham's slap bass and Sly's slick guitar riff drive a song that's almost a megamix, quoting other Family Stone hits as it pushes relentlessly onwards. As on many of their most uplifting tracks, the whole band share lead vocals.
Washington Post
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Sly Stone's 10 essential tracks, from ‘Dance to the Music' to ‘Family Affair'
Few artists left so large an imprint on music history in so short a burst of activity like Sly Stone, who died Monday at 82. At his creative peak as the mastermind of Sly and the Family Stone, the bandleader tie-dyed soul, funk and psychedelic rock into a pattern that was often imitated, never replicated and channeled by genre-hopping acts in every generation since.
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Sly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82
Sly Stone , the American musician who lit up generations of dance floors with his gloriously funky and often socially conscious songwriting, has died aged 82. 'After a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues, Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family,' a family statement read. '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.' With his group Sly and the Family Stone, Stone tied together soul, psychedelic rock and gospel into fervent, uplifting songs, and became one of the key progenitors of the 1970s funk sound alongside James Brown and others. The group's hits include three US No 1 singles – Everyday People, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and Family Affair – plus Dance to the Music, I Want to Take You Higher, Hot Fun in the Summertime and more. READ MORE The 1971 album There's a Riot Goin' On, a moody reflection on civil rights and the corrupted idealism of the postwar era created predominantly by Stone apart from the rest of his band, is widely regarded as one of the greatest of the 20th century. Among those paying tribute to Stone was musician and actor Queen Latifah, who heralded an 'innovator [and] funk aficionado.' Waterboys frontman Mike Scott wrote: 'Thank you for all the inspiration, for breaking ground so others could follow and for being the sassiest, funkiest being on planet earth'. Born Sylvester Stewart to a Pentecostal religious family in Texas in 1943, Stone grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. His first music came in a gospel quartet with three siblings, the Stewart Four, who put out a locally released single in 1952. As a young man he became well known in the fertile musical scene of countercultural San Francisco: a multi-instrumentalist and radio DJ who had a series of local bands and worked as a producer for garage rock and psychedelia groups such as the Beau Brummels. In 1966, he fused his band Sly and the Stoners with his brother Freddie's group Freddie and the Stone Souls, to form Sly and the Family Stone. Their breakthrough came the following year with Dance to the Music, and success was fully established by their fourth album in two years, Stand! (1969), which eventually sold more than three million copies. The band's stylistic and racial diversity attracted a broad audience, and they played both of the defining music festivals of 1969, Woodstock and the Harlem cultural festival. Hits continued more fitfully during the early 1970s, and the group – notorious for no-shows at concerts – slowly fractured amid increasing drug use. Stone would record There's a Riot Goin' On predominantly on his own, applying one of the earliest uses of a drum machine; albums such as Fresh!, with its Richard Avedon portrait of Stone on the cover, were also primarily his work. The band split entirely in 1975, though Stone continued to use the band name for solo releases. Despite having laid the rhythmic groundwork for disco, Stone couldn't sustain his career in the late 1970s, and his addiction to cocaine worsened. He continued to perform with peers such as Funkadelic and Bobby Womack, but album releases dried up after 1982's Ain't But the One Way. He was arrested in 1983 for cocaine possession, and for driving under the influence of cocaine in 1987, prompting him to flee California for Connecticut. He was apprehended two years later, and sentenced to 55 days in prison, five years' probation and a fine. Travel on well SLY STONE 1943-2025, singer, songwriter, musical director, producer, frontman, funkster, pioneer, genius. Thankyou for all the inspiration, for breaking ground so others could follow and for being the sassiest, funkiest Being on planet earth. — Mike Scott (@MickPuck) His difficulties meant that he was little seen during the 1990s, and it wasn't until 2006 that he performed in public again, at a tribute to Sly and the Family Stone at the Grammy awards. He performed with the Family Stone on a tour the following year, but often erratically, and made a lacklustre appearance at 2010's Coachella festival. His final album, I'm Back! Family & Friends, featuring re-recordings of old songs alongside three new tracks, was released in 2011. In 2015 he was awarded $5m in a lawsuit against his former manager and attorney, successfully arguing that royalty payments had been diverted from him, though he ultimately wasn't awarded the money due to the terms of a 1989 royalties agreement with a production company. Difficulties with royalties meant that Stone spent many of his latter years in poverty; in 2011 he was living in a camper van in a residential area of Los Angeles – voluntarily, he claimed – and relying on a retired couple for food. 'Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music,' the family statement added. 'His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable. In a testament to his enduring creative spirit, Sly recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course, which follows a memoir published in 2024.' That memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), was praised in a Guardian review: 'The charm, playfulness, humour and personality of Stone's songs come through in his on-page voice'. In a 2023 interview with the Guardian accompanying its publication, he said: 'I was always happy if someone took the things I was doing and they liked them enough to want to do them on their own. I'm proud that the music I made inspired people.' Stone was married from 1974 to 1976 to Kathy Silva, with whom he had a son, Sylvester Jr. He later had two further children: Sylvyette with Cynthia Robinson, and Novena Carmel. – Guardian
CTV News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
CTV National News: Saying goodbye to generational music talent Sly Stone
Watch Sly Stone is being remembered as a generational musical talent who transcended genres, mixing rock, funk and soul. John Vennavally-Rao has the story.
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sly Stone: A funky life
Sly Stone, a funk-rock star who led the group Sly and the Family Stone, has died at the age of 82, his family statement.A statement said he had suffered a "prolongued battle" with the lung disease COPD. Stone, whose real name was Sylvester Stewart, grew up singing gospel with his siblings, and went on to play the Woodstock music festival in 1969. On the way, Stone was a San Francisco radio DJ, before he and his band hit the big time with hits including It's a Family Affair and If You Want Me to Stay. Stone was a giant of funk music, known for blending psychedelia, funk, rock and soul, his big style and even bigger hair. Here is a selection of images from his life.
