The drummer-producer and documentarian explains why that theme was central to his film on the funk band Sly and the Family Stone.

Saying farewell to Sly Stone, whose avant-funk vision changed the world and influenced generations of musicians

With his band Sly and the Family Stone (which included Freddie), he would go on to change the face of funk music through energetic, chart-topping singles like “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),

Sly Stone, funk pioneer and frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, died Monday at the age of 82, following what his family described as “prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues.” “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved dad,

Leading Sly and the Family Stone, he helped redefine the landscape of pop, funk and rock in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

The music pioneer succumbed after a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues, his family says.

Sly Stone, the groundbreaking funk and psych-rock pioneer who led the iconic Sly and the Family Stone group in the 1960s into the early 1980s, died Monday (June 9), according to a statement from his family.