Sly Stone spun the Beatles on R&B radio before he formed his band

Sylvester Stewart was born into a Dallas family of Church of God in Christ followers who encouraged music at home. After the family moved to Vallejo, California, the four youngest children formed the Stewart Four and released a local 78 RPM single. In high school he sang in a doo-wop group called the Viscaynes and recorded solo singles as Danny Stewart.

By 1964 he had become Sly Stone, a disc jockey on the San Mateo R&B station KSOL, where he put white performers like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on his playlists. He also produced for Autumn Records, working with San Francisco-area bands such as the Beau Brummels and the Mojo Men. One of his productions, Bobby Freeman's “C'mon and Swim”, was a national hit.

In 1966 he formed Sly & the Stoners with the trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, while his brother Freddie led Freddie & the Stone Souls with the drummer Greg Errico. At the suggestion of the saxophonist Jerry Martini, the two groups merged in November 1966 as Sly and the Family Stone. With Rose Stone on keyboards and Larry Graham on bass, it was the first major American rock group with a racially integrated, mixed-gender line-up, and it mixed funk, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel and R&B into what became known as psychedelic soul.

The hits came fast: “Dance to the Music” and “Everyday People” in 1968, then “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” in 1969, alongside the album Stand!. In the 1970s the sound turned darker, on There's a Riot Goin' On and Fresh. Drug problems and clashes broke up the original group by 1975. The critic Joel Selvin argued that black music divides into before and after Sly Stone. The band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and ranked 43rd on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest artists.