Sly Stone, Family Stone Architect Who Fused Funk, Rock, and Soul, Dead at 82

By Elias Leight
June 9, 2025


Michael Putland/Getty Images

[www.rollingstone.com]

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oh

i really liked him

rest in peace

Heavy news! Rest in peace, Sly!

I've seen him live in 2007 at North Sea Jazz festival. Glad that I did. A true legend!

RIP Sly.

RIP

He made some great music. Sorry for the loss. Condolences to family and friends.

RIP Sly, was way ahead of his time.

Oh that's sad. RIP Sly...I wanna thank you falettinme be mice elf again.

Rest In peace Sly ......

Every home should own There's a Riot Goin' On ....... Essential


Safe Journey man ....



ROCKMAN

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Rockman
Rest In peace Sly ......

Every home should own There's a Riot Goin' On ....... Essential


Safe Journey man ....

'Fresh' as well! Que Sera, Sera. Rest well Spaced Cowboy.

RIP, Sly. He and the Family put on one of, if not THE best performance at Woodstock.

"Take all the pain...It's yours anyway"

Some truly great, timeless music. Sounds as fresh today as it did in 1969. Problem is, there isn't enough of it. He fried his brains long before he could reach his full potential. Nearly all the Sly you really need can be found on the 1970 Greatest Hits album. The only thing really missing is "Family Affair," which I consider to be the only essential track on the vastly overrated TARGO. I guess I just never got what all the fuss over that album was supposed to be about. To me, he just sounds incredibly @#$%& up, which, of course, he was.

Rest in peace, Sly Stone

Everyday People is a great track.

He was a major force in the 60's but lost it, like so many did, afterwards.

All things considered, he was lucky to make it into his 80's at all.

RIP

RIP Sly.

- Doxa

RIP Sly

R.I.P Sly

Sly, thanks for the great music, r.i.p.

RIP Sly. Thanks for the great music and the memories.

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tatters
Some truly great, timeless music. Sounds as fresh today as it did in 1969. Problem is, there isn't enough of it. He fried his brains long before he could reach his full potential. Nearly all the Sly you really need can be found on the 1970 Greatest Hits album. The only thing really missing is "Family Affair," which I consider to be the only essential track on the vastly overrated TARGO. I guess I just never got what all the fuss over that album was supposed to be about. To me, he just sounds incredibly @#$%& up, which, of course, he was.

Just listened to it again for the first time in YEARS. EXCELLENT!

Its sad that he never got his stuff together. Its unsurprising it never happened, though I always held out a little hope. He really was phenomenal for a brief period of time and thankfully we'll always have those albums and that beautiful Woodstock performance to remember him by. He had a hard life, he lived a hard life. The problems and attitude he had later in life were unfortunate and hopefully he was able to find some peace through all his turbulence. Made for a hell of a ride to watch, and showed there was still some unpredictable behavior from a rock star if you didn't care about the consequences. I'm not condoning it, but it became a defining characteristic of Sly Stone, just as much as that great music did in the late 60/early 70s.

I love the music, have been a huge Sly Stone fan for many years. That timeless, wonderful music.

I am enjoying the biography that came out last year and the documentary from earlier this year.

I love what QuestLove wrote about him today - “From the moment his music reached me in the early 1970s, it became a part of my soul,”

Rest in Peace Sly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-06-10 18:10 by IrelandCalling4.

RIP Sly
I have to recommend "Sly Lives ! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)": great documentary.

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DiamondDog7
Heavy news! Rest in peace, Sly!

I've seen him live in 2007 at North Sea Jazz festival. Glad that I did. A true legend!

You saw him perform in 2007?? What must that have been like? Was he at all coherent? Did he manage to get thru a single song from start to finish without getting up from his keyboards and wandering offstage while his band continued playing as if it were all perfectly normal? I mean, I've seen some YouTube footage of his latter day performances and what I saw was distressing to say the least.

I remember sometime in the early 1980s he was booked to play a small club in my hometown on Long Island, New York. The promoter had a reputation of being able to get just about anyone to show up and play his now legendary, 300 seat club. He even got Eric Burdon at a time when Eric was notorious for cancelling gigs at the last minute. When he somehow booked Sly Stone, who was a full decade into his downward spiral, I was speechless. I couldn't think of anyone less likely to show up for a club gig on the north shore of Long Island. Still, I knew the promoter had an obsession with the people who had played at Woodstock, and Sly certainly would have been his crowning glory as a promoter. I was tempted to buy a ticket, but declined, knowing I'd regret it for the rest of my life if he actually did show up. As it turned out, his band did show up .... but without Sly. Long story about nothing, I know, but it's something I just now thought of for the first time in over 40 years.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2025-06-11 03:49 by tatters.

I saw Sly in 1966 one evening outside a store called Music Box on Market street in San Francisco. He was a disc jockey for either KDIA or KSOL. He was playing Ray Charles’s I Don’t Need No Doctor and was he was really grooving to the song. There was a small crowd of maybe 10 to 15 people enjoying his broadcast live. He was very enthusiastic and it was a joy to witness him up close in person.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-06-11 06:29 by fuwa.

STAND - RIP COOL SLY

Another great Woodstock 1969 performer gone.

RIP Sly Stone, one crazy dude.

Seen him a few times. Went to his wedding at msg in 1974. Know he had problems but always still liked him,