Sly Stone

Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart, March 15, 1943, Denton, Texas) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk, rock, and psychedelia in the 1960s and '70s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group.

Biography

Early life

The Stewart family was a deeply religious middle-class household from Denton, Texas.

As part of the doctrines of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), to which the Stewart family belonged, the parents - K.C and Alpha Stewart - encouraged musical expression in the household.

Born March 15, 1943, before the family had moved from Denton, Texas to Vallejo, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, Sylvester was the second of the family's five children.

Sylvester and his brother Freddie along with their sisters Rose and Vaetta formed "The Stewart Four" as children, performing gospel music in the Church of God in Christ and even recording a single local release 78 rpm single, "On the Battlefield" b/w "Walking in Jesus' Name", in 1952.