Funk recluse Sly Stone plays at Grammys tribute...
by TFSnewsRoom/Reuters.com
Funk recluse Sly Stone plays at Grammys tribute
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Reclusive funk music pioneer Sly Stone stole the show in bizarre fashion at the Grammy Awards on Wednesday, surprising everyone by making his first major public appearance in almost 13 years.
The occasion was an all-star tribute to his band, Sly and the Family Stone, which virtually invented 1970s funk with such hits as "Dance to the Music" and "Everyday People."
A hunched Stone, sporting a blond Mohawk and a shiny white jacket, sauntered out on stage during the performance of "I Want to Take You Higher." Standing at his keyboards, the 61-year-old sang along for few minutes but left before the song was over.
Among the participants in the historic tribute were Aerosmith principals Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, English soul singer Joss Stone, pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph, Will.I.Am of funk band the Black Eyed Peas and pop band Maroon5.
Backstage, Stone's brother and bandmate, Freddie, cryptically said, "there has been talk of us doing other things."
He added, "Sly is very much interested in letting his friends, his loved ones, his fans know that there is some evolution in the works as far what we're doing today, or what he's doing today."
Sly Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, participated briefly in rehearsals on Monday, but his decades of unreliable behavior have taught everyone never to expect too much.
Although Sly and the Family Stone were hugely influential practitioners of a pop-rock-funk hybrid that crossed racial barriers during their brief heyday in the late 1960s to early 1970s, Stone has not been able to bask in the glory.
By the middle of the decade, as disco was catching on, he was plagued by drug problems and arrests. He was jailed at least twice in the 1980s for cocaine possession. Various comebacks never led to much.
He last made a big splash in 1993 when he showed up briefly for the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. Dressed in a blue jumpsuit, he muttered "see ya soon," and quickly disappeared into the night.
Since then, his only reported appearance was at a Los Angeles club in August for a tribute performed by blind musicians.
Stone's performance was not the most unusual appearance at the Grammys. Paul McCartney collaborated with rapper Jay-Z and rap-rock band Linkin Park on a version of the classic "Yesterday" he wrote for the Beatles.
