Sly Stone is homeless and living in a camper-van in L.A., the world learned Sunday, thanks to the director of a documentary about Sly and the Family Stone who co-wrote a story for the New York Post. News of musician Sly Stone’s death spread quickly earlier this week, causing concern among fans across the world. However, the September 2019 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax, Sly and the Family Stone frontman is alive and well. What then happened in 1989 is the source of controversy that fuels the multimillion-dollar dispute. Goldstein took control of Sly Stone's financial affairs and dealt with his old record label. In June 1983, Sly was arrested in Fort Myers, Fla., and charged with cocaine possession. His life did not improve. For a decade, “He recorded, but nothing ever happened,” says Fred. Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart, March 15, 1944) was a member of a deeply religious middle-class household from Dallas, Texas. And Alpha Stewart held the family together under the doctrines of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) and encouraged musical expression in the household.

Background information
Sly and the Family Stone in 1969. Clockwise from top: Larry Graham, Freddie Stone, Greg Errico, Sly Stone, Rose Stone, Cynthia Robinson, and Jerry Martini.
Origin	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active	1966–1983
Labels	Epic, Stone Flower
Associated acts	The Original Family Stone, Little Sister, Funkadelic, The Strangers, Graham Central Station
Past members	Mary McCreary Elva Mouton Gerry Gibson Vicki Blackwell Jim Strassburg

Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. It was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, male and female lineup.^[1]

Formed in 1966, the group's music synthesized a variety of disparate musical genres to help pioneer the emerging 'psychedelic soul' sound.^[2]^[3] They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as 'Dance to the Music' (1968), 'Everyday People' (1968), and 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary.^[4] In the 1970s, it transitioned into a darker and less commercial funk sound on releases such as There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) and Fresh (1973), proving as influential as their early work.^[5] By 1975, drug problems and interpersonal clashes led to dissolution,^[6] though Sly continued to record and tour with a new rotating lineup under the name 'Sly and the Family Stone' until drug problems forced his effective retirement in 1987.^[7]

The work of Sly and the Family Stone greatly influenced the sound of subsequent American funk, pop, soul, R&B, and hip hop music. Music critic Joel Selvin wrote, 'there are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone'.^[8] In 2010, they were ranked 43rd in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time,^[9] and three of their albums are included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

1Career
2It's not the individual, it's the music (2019)
3Awards and tributes

Career[edit]

Sylvester Stewart was born into the Dallas, Texas, family of K.C. and Alpha Stewart, followers of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) who encouraged musical expression in the household.^[10] After the Stewarts moved to Vallejo, California, the youngest four children (Sylvester, Freddie, Rose, and Vaetta) formed 'The Stewart Four', who released a local 78 RPM single, 'On the Battlefield of the Lord' b/w 'Walking in Jesus' Name', in 1952.

While attending high school, Sylvester and Freddie joined student bands. One of Sylvester's high school musical groups was a doo-wop act called The Viscaynes. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, and Sylvester recorded several solo singles under the name 'Danny Stewart'.

By 1964, Sylvester had become Sly Stone and a disc jockey for San Mateo, California located R&B radio station KSOL, where he included white performers such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in his playlists. During the same period, he worked as a record producer for Autumn Records, producing for San Francisco-area bands such as The Beau Brummels and The Mojo Men. One of the Sylvester Stewart-produced Autumn singles, Bobby Freeman's 'C'mon and Swim', was a national hit.^[11] Stewart recorded unsuccessful solo singles while at Autumn.^[12]

Early years[edit]

In 1966, Sly Stone formed a band called Sly & the Stoners, which included acquaintance Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. Around the same time, Freddie founded a band called Freddie & the Stone Souls, which included Gregg Errico on drums, and Ronnie Crawford on saxophone. At the suggestion of Stone's friend, saxophonist Jerry Martini, Sly and Freddie combined their bands, creating Sly and the Family Stone in November 1966. At first the group was called Sly Brothers and Sisters but after their first gig at the Winchester Cathedral, a night club in Redwood City, California, they changed the name to Sly & the Family Stone. Since both Sly and Freddie were guitarists, Sly appointed Freddie the official guitarist for the Family Stone, and taught himself to play the electronic organ. Sly also recruited Larry Graham to play bass guitar.

Vanetta Stewart wanted to join the band as well. She and her friends, Mary McCreary and Elva Mouton, had a gospel group called The Heavenly Tones. Sly recruited the teenagers directly out of high school to become Little Sister, Sly and the Family Stone's background vocalists.^[13]

After a gig at the Winchester Cathedral, CBS Records executive David Kapralik signed the group to CBS's Epic Records label. The Family Stone's first album, A Whole New Thing, was released in 1967 to critical acclaim, particularly from musicians such as Mose Allison and Tony Bennett.^[14] However, the album's low sales restricted their playing venues to small clubs, and caused Clive Davis and the record label to intervene.^[14]^[15] Some musicologists believe the Abaco Dream single 'Life And Death In G & A', recorded for A&M Records in 1967 and peaking at #74 in September 1969,^[16] was performed by Sly and the Family Stone.^[17]

Davis talked Sly into writing and recording a record, and he and the band reluctantly provided the single 'Dance to the Music'.^[18] Upon its February 1968 release, 'Dance to the Music' became a widespread ground-breaking hit, and was the band's first charting single, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[19] Just before the release of 'Dance to the Music', Rose Stone joined the group as a vocalist and a keyboardist. Rose's brothers had invited her to join the band from the beginning, but she initially had been reluctant to leave her steady job at a local record store.^[18]

How Old Is Sly Stone

The Dance to the Music album went on to decent sales, but the follow-up, Life, was not as successful commercially .^[20] In September 1968, the band em

What Happened To Sly Stone