Sly Stone’s life has been eventful, to say the least. From the highs of his groundbreaking records with The Family Stone to the lows of drug addiction and serious financial hardship, he’s been through it all.
But remarkably, at the age of 81, he’s still with us, a fact acknowledged in the title of Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), Questlove’s new documentary about the great man. Set for release on Hulu and Disney+ on 13 February, this tells the story of Stone’s life and career, while also exploring the wider impact that success can have on black artists in America.
Sly & The Family Stone featured in Questlove’s previous film, Summer of Soul, which documented the (at the time) criminally ignored Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place in 1969. After appearing there, Stone and his band went on to perform at Woodstock, which quickly became part of the fabric of rock history.
Also there was Jimi Hendrix, but in his 2023 memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Stone revealed that this wasn’t the first time they’d been on the same bill. They also appeared together in 1968, at New York’s Fillmore East.
“We played a short set, five or six songs, starting with a cover of Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness, special placement for Dance to the Music,” Stone recalls, “but by the end of it half the band (me, Freddie [Stone, guitarist - Sly’s brother], and I think Larry [Graham, legendary bassist) were in the aisles, hamboning, and then we pied pipered the crowd out of the theater onto the street. When we were doing that, someone had to play the bass, and we picked Cynthia. She could hold it down for a while.”
Next up, Hendrix: “They had to put the place back together after our set and then Jimi came on and tore the place up again,” says Stone. “He was already something special. You could tell that on his records and you could tell it in the room. He had the ability to make sounds come out of his fingers that I could not even have imagined before I heard them.”
Stone goes on to say that he and Hendrix hung out “now and then, never too much,” but does have another rather more bizarre Jimi anecdote to share.
“Once I went to a girl’s apartment. At some point in the evening, she told me that she had a film of herself and Jimi having sex,” he writes. “‘Let me see,’ I said. I didn’t want to see the movie. I just wanted to get eyes on it to make sure it was what she said it was. It was.”
And there was us thinking that celebrity sex tapes were invented in the ‘90s. What happened to the film, though?
“When I left, I took it with me,” says Stone. I figured that Jimi didn’t want to know about it and I didn’t think it was right to have it out there in the world like that, where it could appear suddenly and do him harm.”
So Stone destroyed it, right? Not quite. “I gave it to someone who wasn’t in the business, who I knew would never do anything with it other than throw it away,” he says.
Stone doesn’t name the person (or explain why he didn’t just bin the tape himself) so we’ll never know if they did indeed get rid of it, but the fact that (to the best of our knowledge) it’s never been seen suggests that they did. Or maybe it’s sitting in a loft somewhere, just waiting to be found. If that ever happens, we’re guessing we’ll hear about it.
How to watch Sly Lives! for free in the US
If you're based in the US, you can currently score a 3-day free trial of Hulu which gives you plenty of time to watch all 112 minutes of Sly Lives without spending a dime. You can sign up for a free Hulu trial here. Just remember to cancel before your trial is up.
If you're interested in going the long haul, there's currently a super cheap Hulu and Disney+ bundle up for grabs, which gets you both services (with ads) for only $10.99 per month. With loads of great music content on both services, including Get Back and Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, it's well worth the cost. Plus, you can cancel any time.
How to watch Sly Lives! from anywhere
If you're currently outside the US and don't want to miss out on watching Sly Lives! on Hulu, you can watch through a VPN.
Virtual Private Networks are used to change the location of your IP address, enabling you to watch Sly Lives outside of the US. Nord VPN is MusicRadar's service of choice and it's currently available with 72% off the usual price - and there's a 30-day money back guarantee.
How to use a VPN
1. Install a VPN. As we've mentioned above, Nord VPN is MusicRadar's favourite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN. If you're currently in the UK on holiday and want to watch Sly Lives!, just select 'US' from the list.
3. Turn the volume up and relax. You're all set to watch.
