Here are some of the best tributes to Sly Stone since his passing on June 9:
“Sly Stone, visionary funk frontman of the Family Stone, has died at age 82,” NPR, June 9, 2025
“A timeline of Sly Stone’s career in 10 essential songs,” LA Times, June 10, 2025
“Sly Stone: Funk Revolutionary,” The Free Press, June 10, 2025
“How the Bay Area Shaped Sly Stone,” New York Times, June 10, 2025
“Sly Stone: A funky life – in pictures,” BBC, June 10, 2025
“Sly Stone and the Sound of an America That Couldn’t Last,” New York Times, June 11, 2025
“RIP Sly Stone,” Sound Opinions, June 13, 2025
“Why Sly Stone’s 1969 Was an All-Time Pop Star Peak,” Billboard, June 19, 2025
“How Sly Stone and Brian Wilson Changed Music,” Rolling Stone, June 20, 2025
The Guardian did a terrific profile of the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas, highlighting her new album with N’Awlins funk gods Galactic. Check out this video for their song “Lady Liberty.”
This is what gridlock looks like in the funk world: “National Funk Congress Deadlocked on Get Up/Get Down Issue.”
(From The Onion, October 27, 1999)
fDeluxe (The Band Formerly Known as The Family) is set to participate in celebrations around Prince’s birthday. Their web site shows that they will be holding Q&A sessions on June 5 and 6.
Prince created the band from the remnants of The Time (Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson, and Paul Peterson), adding saxophonist Eric Leeds and singer Susannah Melvoin (guitarist Wendy’s twin sister). The Family album dropped in June 1985, but as had been the case with Time albums, Prince recorded nearly everything himself, adding Leeds’ saxophone and St. Paul and Susannah’s vocals later. The Family played one legendary show in Minneapolis but then it was over. They regrouped in 2011; Prince didn’t allow them to use the original band name, so they became fDeluxe.
PBS has dropped a new documentary on its Independent Lens program: We Want the Funk!
An NPR story on the doc quotes Professor Todd Boyd (“The Notorious Ph.D.”), who says the following about the funk:
Well, it’s funky. But beyond that, I don’t know if I can describe it. But when you hear it, you know what it is. And, perhaps more importantly, you know it when you feel it.
Erykah Badu will drop a new album in 2025, her first since 2010! Even though she’s not been recording much other than guest appearances on other artists’ albums, she tours eight months out of the year, so she’s stayed plenty busy.
Bootsy got a new album coming out April 11! Album of the Year #1 Funkateer. Here’s the title track:
“Questlove Confronts the ‘Burden of Black Genius’ in a New Sly Stone Documentary,” Fresh Air, NPR, February 10, 2025.