Sly and The Family Stone (1966-1983)

September 28, 2020 
/ Contributed By: Arnissa Hopkins

|Sly and the Family Stone|Sly Stone Album Cover

Sly and the Family Stone

© GAB Archive/Redferns

Sly and The Family Stone is band from San Francisco, California that was active from 1966 to 1983. The band consisted of brothers Sylvester and Freddie and sister Rose Stewart along with Greg Errico, Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini, and Larry Graham and was the first major band to have a racially integrated male and female lineup. They were also pioneers in the emerging โ€œpsychedelic soulโ€ sound that incorporated funk, soul, rock and psychedelic music.

Sylvester Stewart, who was born to parents K.C. and Alpha Stewart, was the leader of the group. Although his birth name was Sylvester, he was called Sly after a friend misspelled his name. Stone was born in Dallas, Texas but the family moved to Vallejo, California when he was a child.

Stewart played several musical instruments including keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums all by the age of eleven. In high school he performed with Viscaynes which released some tracks but by 1964 he worked as a DJ for the San Mateo radio station, KSOL and became popular for infusing The Beatles and Rolling Stones into the stationโ€™s R&B rotation. Later he was a DJ at San Franciscoโ€™s KDIA. While there he formed Sly and The Family Stone which signed with Epic records in 1966.

The 1968 song โ€œEveryday Peopleโ€ became the groupโ€™s first hit, reaching Number 1 on the R&B and Pop charts. The song was part of the groupโ€™s first album, Stand, which also included โ€œSing A Simpleโ€ and โ€œI Want Take You Higher.โ€ Stand topped at number 3 on the R&B charts and 13 on the Pop charts but it stayed on the charts for two years. The success of Stand allowed them to perform at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival which gave them international exposure.

In 1971 the group recorded โ€œFamily Affairโ€ for the album of the same name, which reached the top of the charts just a month after its release. It ranked number 1 on the pop charts for three weeks and number 1 on the R&B charts for six weeks. In 1973 the group produced Fresh Sly, and its major single, โ€œIf You Want Me To Stayโ€ but it did not have the success of earlier albums and prompted two member of the band to leave the group, the first of a series of departures.

In 1974 Sly and the Family Stone released the album Small Talk which was certified gold (sold 250,000 units). The album produced two singles, โ€œLoose Bootyโ€ and โ€œTime for Livinโ€™โ€ which was the groupโ€™s last song to chart in the Top 40. After this more member left the group. Sly in 1975 went solo and recorded the albums High on You and Heard You Missed Me, Well Iโ€™m Back a year later. In 1979 he released Back on the Right Track. The album, Ainโ€™t But The One had to be completed and released in 1982 by record producer Stewart Levine because Sly, now addicted to drugs, disappeared.

Sly Stone Album Cover, 1970

Sly Stone Album Cover, 1970

After that point Sly Stone rarely appeared in public. In 1993 he performed when the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then he disappeared again only to reappear in 2006 when the band was honored at that yearโ€™s Grammy awards with a tribute by Fantasia, John Legend, Ciara and others. Stone performed along with the stars and then disappeared again.

Sly Stone died on June 9th, 2025. He was 82 years old.

About the Author

Author Profile

Arnissa Hopkins is a freelance journalist from Cleveland, Ohio. Hopkins has written for Otherwords.org, Resolute magazine, and now Blackpast.org. She is a graduate of Kent State University and The University of Akron. She holds a Master of Arts in Literature from The University of Akron. In her spare time, she likes to shop, travel, and spend time with her family. Arnissa has also given her time to various organizations throughout the Cleveland area.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Hopkins, A. (2020, September 28). Sly and The Family Stone (1966-1983). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/sly-and-the-family-stone-1966-1983/

Source of the Author's Information:

Joel Selvin, Sly and The Family Stone: An Oral History (New York: HarperCollins, 1998); Jeff Kaliss, I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and times of Sly and the Family Stone (New York: Backbeat, 2008) Eddie Santiago, Sly: The Lives of Sylvester Stewart and Sly Stone (New York: Lulu.com, 2008).

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