Sly Stone's Kids Offer Rare Glimpse at 81-Year-Old Rocker's 'Normal' Life Today, 6 Years After He Got Clean

Mar. 15, 2025

Sly Stone makes a rare appearance performing his song “if you want me to stay” with The Family Stone during Hippiefest 2015 at Count Basie Theater on August 23, 2015 in Red Bank, New Jersey.Photo:Mark Weiss/Getty

Mark Weiss/Getty

After decades of dealing with drug addiction,Sly Stonefinally got clean in 2019 — leaving his three kids free to enjoy what they call the “most normal times” yet with their father.Questlove’s new documentarySly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)chronicles the rise and fall of famed “Everyday People” rockers Sly and the Family Stone, from their humble beginnings and superstardom to the addictions that ultimately derailed frontman Stone’s career.In the film, which premiered at Sundance and is now streaming on Hulu, Stone’s son and two daughters speak to their experiences with their father, both when they were children and now, as adults.Daughter Novena Carmel, 43, says she “didn’t have a lot of interaction” with Stone, 81, as a child, and even recalls calling his house at age 10 only to find he was “so out of it” he didn’t know who she was.American pop group leader Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone at Hatchetts Club, Piccadilly, London, 1968.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty“I didn’t like it. It was not a good feeling,” she says. “At that point, I wanted something better for him.”Son Sylvester Stewart Jr., meanwhile, whom the star shares with ex-wife Kathy Silva, says he doesn’t have many “normal” stories with his father, though he’s aware that much of Stone’s life was spent “under a tremendous amount of pressure.”“A lot has been taken from him over the years, but I’ve always felt like I know where his soul is coming from and I know where his heart is coming from,” he says. “These last few years are the most normal times I’ve had with him.”Carmel then demonstrates just how normal things have become, saying that when she asked Stone what he wanted to eat for his birthday, all he asked for was a “big pizza with all of the toppings.”“He’s also a big fan of Westerns and cars,” she says. “He’s kind of just like, a standard old Black man.”DaughterPhunne Stone, whose mother is the late Sly and the Family Stone cofounder and trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, adds that she believes her dad “is actually really shy,” but “drugs helped him be fearless.”Stone — who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has lost a large amount of his lung capacity — got clean in 2019, according to theGuardian.In 2023, he told the outlet he only sobered up after his doctor told him in 2019 that if he continued to smoke crack, he’d ruin his lungs or die. It was the fourth time in recent years Stone had been hospitalized due to breathing difficulties, and he was finally able to clean up his act.Sly Stone makes a rare appearance with his daughter Phunne Stone and The Family Stone during Hippiefest 2015 at Count Basie Theater on August 23, 2015 in Red Bank, New Jersey.Mark Weiss/GettyDuring a recent Q&A screening of the film, producer Joseph Patel explained that he and Questlove opted not to feature Stone on camera in a new interview because it didn’t “feel right” given his frail health.“Ahmir’s first thing he said was, ‘Let’s tell this story with a lot of empathy.’ That’s not empathetic,” Patel said. “We interviewed Sly for [the Oscar-winning documentary]Summer of Soulin 2020. And he had just gotten clean, and he just — he doesn’t have the motor function. He can’t speak in full sentences. His eyes reveal a precociousness and a lucidity that’s there, but his motor function doesn’t exist.“While the documentary doesn’t skip over Stone’s decades-long struggle with substance abuse, Questlove said the “most important part” was to present Stone as a person rather than a personality, because “it’s rare that Black people get seen as humans.”

After decades of dealing with drug addiction,Sly Stonefinally got clean in 2019 — leaving his three kids free to enjoy what they call the “most normal times” yet with their father.

Questlove’s new documentarySly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)chronicles the rise and fall of famed “Everyday People” rockers Sly and the Family Stone, from their humble beginnings and superstardom to the addictions that ultimately derailed frontman Stone’s career.

In the film, which premiered at Sundance and is now streaming on Hulu, Stone’s son and two daughters speak to their experiences with their father, both when they were children and now, as adults.

Daughter Novena Carmel, 43, says she “didn’t have a lot of interaction” with Stone, 81, as a child, and even recalls calling his house at age 10 only to find he was “so out of it” he didn’t know who she was.

American pop group leader Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone at Hatchetts Club, Piccadilly, London, 1968.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

“I didn’t like it. It was not a good feeling,” she says. “At that point, I wanted something better for him.”

Son Sylvester Stewart Jr., meanwhile, whom the star shares with ex-wife Kathy Silva, says he doesn’t have many “normal” stories with his father, though he’s aware that much of Stone’s life was spent “under a tremendous amount of pressure.”

“A lot has been taken from him over the years, but I’ve always felt like I know where his soul is coming from and I know where his heart is coming from,” he says. “These last few years are the most normal times I’ve had with him.”

Carmel then demonstrates just how normal things have become, saying that when she asked Stone what he wanted to eat for his birthday, all he asked for was a “big pizza with all of the toppings.”

“He’s also a big fan of Westerns and cars,” she says. “He’s kind of just like, a standard old Black man.”

DaughterPhunne Stone, whose mother is the late Sly and the Family Stone cofounder and trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, adds that she believes her dad “is actually really shy,” but “drugs helped him be fearless.”

Stone — who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has lost a large amount of his lung capacity — got clean in 2019, according to theGuardian.

In 2023, he told the outlet he only sobered up after his doctor told him in 2019 that if he continued to smoke crack, he’d ruin his lungs or die. It was the fourth time in recent years Stone had been hospitalized due to breathing difficulties, and he was finally able to clean up his act.

Sly Stone makes a rare appearance with his daughter Phunne Stone and The Family Stone during Hippiefest 2015 at Count Basie Theater on August 23, 2015 in Red Bank, New Jersey.Mark Weiss/Getty

During a recent Q&A screening of the film, producer Joseph Patel explained that he and Questlove opted not to feature Stone on camera in a new interview because it didn’t “feel right” given his frail health.

“Ahmir’s first thing he said was, ‘Let’s tell this story with a lot of empathy.’ That’s not empathetic,” Patel said. “We interviewed Sly for [the Oscar-winning documentary]Summer of Soulin 2020. And he had just gotten clean, and he just — he doesn’t have the motor function. He can’t speak in full sentences. His eyes reveal a precociousness and a lucidity that’s there, but his motor function doesn’t exist.”

While the documentary doesn’t skip over Stone’s decades-long struggle with substance abuse, Questlove said the “most important part” was to present Stone as a person rather than a personality, because “it’s rare that Black people get seen as humans.”

source: people.com