Sly Stone died in LA during Black Music Month while there was a riot going on. He was 82.

James Brown was my first exposure to funk, but Sly and the Family Stone were right there on his platform heels. They started off urging us to dance to the music, but within a few short years, the good times gave way to harsh realities. Of course, not unlike Nero, the mainstream audience wanted to dance more than protest. Sly was having none of it. He answered Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On...