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Sly Stone
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, was born in 1943 in Denton, Texas, and grew up in Vallejo in Northern California. He died in 2025. His parents were deeply religious and encouraged music. As a child he sang gospel with his brother Freddie and his sisters. At an early age he had mastered keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. In the mid-1960s he worked as a producer at Autumn Records and as a disc jockey at a soul station in San Francisco, where he also played The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Music and breakthrough
In 1966 he merged his band with Freddie's to form Sly and the Family Stone, a group of Black and white members, men and women. They had hits with Dance to the Music and Everyday People in 1968, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and I Want to Take You Higher in 1969, and Family Affair in 1971. Important albums are Stand! from 1969 and There's a Riot Goin' On from 1971. Sly Stone fused soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel into a new, rhythmic music that strongly shaped psychedelic soul and funk.
Influence
In the mid-1970s drug use and unpredictable behaviour put an end to the group. Stone then recorded a few solo albums that had little success, including High on You in 1975. He performed or collaborated with Parliament-Funkadelic, among others. In 1993 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2017 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His autobiography was published in 2023.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
Mentioned in other articles
- Jazz-funk Genre
Jazz-funk emphasises the groove of funk musicians such as James Brown and Sly Stone.
- Drum machine Technology
In 1971, Sly Stone made a Maestro Rhythm King the basis of his record There's a Riot Goin' On.