Sly Stone

An enigmatic character who wore bright, flared suits and married his wife in front of over 20,000 people at New York's Madison Square Garden, Sly Stone's psychedelic funk was a melting pot of sonic experimentalism and good-time showmanship which captured the free-thinking, revolutionary spirit of the 1960s and 1970s. A musical prodigy raised in a deeply religious family, Stone (real name Sylvester Stewart) worked as a radio DJ in San Francisco before finding huge fame with Sly & The Family Stone in the late 1960s. The multi-racial group broke down social barriers, scored three US Number 1 singles and produced the classic album There's A Riot Going On (1971), as they became one of the most important acts of the era, influencing rock and roll, disco and, later, hip hop. The band fell apart in the mid-1970s amid spiralling drug problems and a disastrous show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, but Sly went on to release solo records High On You (1975), Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976) and Back On The Right Track (1979) before touring and recording with George Clinton and Funkadelic. Sly disappeared into rehab in the 1980s, but re-appeared in 1993 to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and briefly again during a tribute at the 2006 Grammy Awards.