Questlove is remembering the late great, Sly Stone. In a lengthy and emotional Instagram post, the musician — who directed the documentary Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), about Stone’s life and has long described him as an inspiration — reflected on the legend’s legacy and enduring impact on music at large.
“Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, left this earth today, but the changes he sparked while here will echo forever. From the moment his music reached me in the early 1970s, it became a part of my soul,” Questlove wrote. “Sly was a giant — not just for his groundbreaking work with the Family Stone, but for the radical inclusivity and deep human truths he poured into every note.”
“His songs weren’t just about fighting injustice; they were about transforming the self to transform the world,” he added. “He dared to be simple in the most complex ways — using childlike joy, wordless cries, and nursery rhyme cadences to express adult truths. His work looked straight at the brightest and darkest parts of life and demanded we do the same.”
Questlove also acknowledged Stone’s battle with addiction and how he “disappeared from the spotlight,” but also how he outlasted his “disciples” and was able to “feel the ripples of his genius return through hip-hop samples, documentaries, and his memoir.”
“Still, none of that replaces the raw beauty of his original work. As I reflect on his legacy, two lines haunt me: ‘We deserve everything we get in this life’ — a line from the Sly Lives! documentary that feels like both a warning and a manifestation — and, of course, the eternal cry of ‘Everyday People’: ‘We got to live together!’ Once idealistic, now I hear it as a command.”
Questlove ended his post by thanking Stone and reminding followers how Stone’s music will “likely speak to us even more now than it did then.” He concluded: “You will forever live… Love to your family, loved ones and every human whose life you came across and [affected]. All of your disciples will be geeked to receive you.”
Stone died Monday at the age of 82 following a “prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues,” according to a statement by his family.
Questlove directed 2025’s Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), which reexamined Stone’s legacy and focused on how his influence continues to impact popular music today. It included commentary from Chaka Khan, D’Angelo, Q-Tip, and Family Stone members Larry Graham and Jerry Martini, among others.
“My intent was always to use Sly Stone to tell our story, my story, D’Angelo’s story, Lauryn Hill’s story, Frank Ocean’s story,” Questlove told Rolling Stone. “When you’re talking about ‘blowing it,’ a lot of times the fear of failing or the fear of returning to where you came from — which is the very bottom — causes you anxiety about your future, and then causes you to fumble it.”
