Sly Stone

Sly Stone

Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart, March 15, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, a band that played a critical role in the development of soul, funk, rock, and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s.Raised in California as part of a religious family that encouraged musical expression, Stone mastered several instruments at an early age and performed gospel music as a child with siblings (and future bandmates) Freddie and Rose. In the mid-1960s, he worked as both a record producer for Autumn Records and a disc jockey for San Francisco radio station KSOL, where he played an eclectic variety of black and white artists. In 1966, Stone formed Sly & the Family Stone, among the first racially integrated, male and female acts in popular music. The group would score hits such as "Dance to the Music" (1968) and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1969), and acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969) and There's a Riot Goin' On (1971). By the mid-1970s, Stone's drug problems and erratic behavior effectively ended the group, leaving him to record several unsuccessful solo albums. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group.

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