Questlove has paid tribute to late funk pioneerSly Stone. In an Instagram post, The Roots drummer and music historian reflected on the musician’s legacy and vast accomplishments, while also sharinghis personal experience working on the original documentary Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius).
“Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, left this earth today, but the changes he sparked while here will echo forever. From the moment his music reached me in the early 1970s, it became a part of my soul,” Questlove wrote. “Sly was a giant — not just for his groundbreaking work with the Family Stone, but for the radical inclusivity and deep human truths he poured into every note. His songs weren’t just about fighting injustice; they were about transforming the self to transform the world. He dared to be simple in the most complex ways — using childlike joy, wordless cries, and nursery rhyme cadences to express adult truths. His work looked straight at the brightest and darkest parts of life and demanded we do the same.”
Questlove continued by acknowledging Stone’s addiction battle and disappearance from the spotlight before stating that the artist “lived long enough to outlast many of his disciples, to feel the ripples of his genius return through hip-hop samples, documentaries, and his memoir.”
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“Still, none of that replaces the raw beauty of his original work,” Questlove added. “As I reflect on his legacy, two lines haunt me: ‘We deserve everything we get in this life’ — a line from the Sly Lives! documentary that feels like both a warning and a manifestation — and, of course, the eternal cry of ‘Everyday People’: ‘We got to live together!’ Once idealistic, now I hear it as a command. Sly’s music will likely speak to us even more now than it did then. Thank you, Sly. You will forever live.”
Stone’s death at the age of 82 was announced by his family earlier today, June 9th. It followed “a prolonged battle” with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and “other underlying health issues.”