A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Sylvester Stewart, better known by his stage name, Sly Stone, has died at the age of 82.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THANK YOU (FALENTTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN)")
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: (Singing) I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin.
MARTÍNEZ: In the 1960s, his band, Sly & The Family Stone, combined psychedelic rock, doo-wop, gospel and surf music to create a new sound.
JASON KING: It was a music nobody had ever heard before.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Jason King is the dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. He says Stone's music was a product of the tumult of the '60s and '70s.
KING: The Vietnam War, massive polarization in U.S. politics, generational splits, racial splits. And he managed to sort of synthesize all of the feeling of hope and optimism and possibility that still existed in the midst of all of that seismic activity.
MARTÍNEZ: Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Miles Davis and Earth, Wind & Fire all credited Sly Stone with influencing the music they made. So did Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who described some of Stone's music like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
QUESTLOVE: A whole bunch of micro-ideas inside of one three-minute song. And that's the genius of Sly Stone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SING A SIMPLE SONG")
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: (Singing) Time is passing, I grow older, things are happening fast. All I have to hold on to is a simple song at last. Let me hear you say.
MARTIN: Questlove's documentary "Sly Lives! (Aka The Burden Of Black Genius)" came out in February. He told NPR's Fresh Air about what that burden was.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
QUESTLOVE: When you have Black success, nine times out of 10, you're going to go in the history books because it's just so pioneering. And you better make us proud, and you better not mess up.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SING A SIMPLE SONG")
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: (Yelling) Sing a simple song.
MARTÍNEZ: Sly Stone struggled with addiction. By the 1980s, he had retreated to a private life. His daughter, Novena Carmel, told NPR that fame and fortune weighed on her father.
NOVENA CARMEL: Being famous is not normal. To have that much energy and attention being put on you, it can be a burden, especially when you're not supported properly and sharing that.
MARTIN: Questlove said Stone's music laid the foundation for future genres like disco and hip-hop and spoke to the humanity of all people.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
QUESTLOVE: "Everyday People" is a great example, where he's essentially saying that, hey, like, I breathe air like you do. I bleed like you do. There's some things that we have in common, there's some things that we don't have in common, but we're all the same person.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYDAY PEOPLE")
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: (Singing) I am everyday people. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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