Sly & The Family Stone emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s under the leadership of Sylvester “Sly Stone” Stewart. The band was revolutionary both musically and visually, bringing together Black and white musicians and men and women in one of the era’s most prominent integrated groups.

Sly Stone combined soul, gospel, rock, psychedelia and emerging funk rhythms into records that sounded radically different from conventional R&B. “Dance to the Music” became the breakthrough, followed by “Everyday People,” “Stand!” and “I Want to Take You Higher.” The group’s performance at Woodstock helped cement its reputation as an explosive live act.

The music became darker and more stripped down in the early 1970s. “Family Affair,” from There’s a Riot Goin’ On, used a drum machine and sparse production to create a sound that anticipated later funk, R&B and hip-hop. Fresh continued the experimentation with “If You Want Me to Stay.”

The band’s influence is enormous. Larry Graham’s slap-bass technique became foundational to funk, while Sly Stone’s studio methods and genre-mixing approach shaped artists across funk, rock, pop and hip-hop. Sly & The Family Stone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Sly Stone died in 2025, leaving behind one of American music’s most innovative catalogs.

CLE Radio’s Sly & The Family Stone page brings together ten official videos and official audio selections, major Billboard Hot 100 hits and the recordings that helped invent the modern language of funk.