Amir “Questlove” Thompson has paid tribute to Sly Stone, who has passed away at the age of 82.
Questlove directed the documentary about the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), which premiered on Hulu and Disney+ in February.
In a post on Instagram, Questlove writes that while Sly is gone, “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,” he writes. “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 dared to be simple in the most complex ways — using childlike joy, wordless cries, and nursery rhyme cadences to express adult truths,” he adds. “His work looked straight at the brightest and darkest parts of life and demanded we do the same.”
Questlove notes that while Stone battled addiction and disappeared from the spotlight, “he lived long enough to outlast many of his disciples, 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.”
Finally, he shares, “Sly’s music will likely speak to us even more now than it did then. Thank you, Sly. You will forever live.”
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