Sly & The Family Stone
Years Active: 1966–1983
Genre/s: Psychedelic soul, funk, rock, progressive soul
Label/s: Epic, Stone Flower
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel, and R&B, became a pivotal influence on subsequent American popular music. Their core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's siblings Freddie Stone (guitar, vocals) and Rose Stone (keyboard, vocals) alongside Cynthia Robinson (trumpet, vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone), and Larry Graham (bass, vocals). The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.
Formed in 1966, the group synthesized a variety of musical genres to pioneer the emerging "psychedelic soul" sound. They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as "Dance to the Music" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968), “Hot Fun in the Summertime” (1969), 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. 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. By 1975, drug problems and interpersonal clashes led to dissolution, 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.
The work of Sly and the Family Stone 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". In 2010, they were ranked 43rd in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and three of their albums are included on the most recent version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.