Tag Archives: sly-stone

When Greil Marcus published Mystery Train in 1975, it was hailed as the greatest book ever written about rock & roll. Fifty years after it came out, there’s a lot more competition — but no other book has come close. It’s a radically original portrait of America and its music, …

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? Today the world salutes the love story of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who announced their engagement on social media Tuesday, with the wittiest wedding announcement in pop history: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” In the photos, Travis …

Once upon a time, being in a rock band meant, ipso facto, being in a cover band. There are still plenty of cover bands, of course, but the Beatles and especially punk helped move it from being the default. Still, mastering other people’s material before embarking upon one’s own presents …

Sly and the Family Stone rip through a rendition of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose” in the latest offering from the upcoming album, The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967. The First Family contains the earliest known live recording of Sly and the Family Stone. It was …

One day in 2009, Alec Palao found himself inside a Target in Los Angeles, buying a sweatsuit off a sale rack. He brought it back to a motel near LAX airport and gave it to Sly Stone, who was living there at the time. “He took one look at it …

Sly Stone’s journey highlights the difficulty of showing emotions,something that is even more difficult for Black people in the U.S. Expressing feelings at times felt dangerous for us. You could get laughed at, ridiculed, teased, ostracized, punched, or killed. To protect themselves, black people adopted a “cool” exterior — acting …

In music, it’s an open secret that one’s look is as important as their sound, and Sly Stone was a cosmopolitan reflection of time and place who simultaneously transcended eras. The American icon died on Monday at 82, leaving behind a legacy of soaring musical achievements, struggle, and glittery Halston …

Ben Fong-Torres was one of Rolling Stone’s first star writers, interviewing iconic subjects like Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina Turner, Linda Ronstadt, Marvin Gaye, and more. His first cover story was in May 1969, on Joni Mitchell. “For whatever reason, my byline was dropped,” he says. “I can’t exactly say …

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. The late Sly Stone was known as a wildly inventive musician, whose discography spanned genres and audiences throughout his decades-long career. As the lead singer of Sly and …

The music industry is mourning Sly Stone. After news broke that the groundbreaking musician had died at 82 on Monday, stars from Questlove and Chuck D to Clairo and Fatboy Slim shared tributes for the star. Stone’s family announced his death in a statement Monday, writing that his death was …