Sly Stone Doc Producer Reveals Health Reason Why the Music Legend Didn't Participate in Film: 'Doesn't Feel Right'

Mar. 15, 2025

Sly Stone in London in 1968.Photo:Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Sly Stone wasn’t interviewed for his own documentary, and the creators of the film have revealed why.

During a Q&A following a screening ofSLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), the producer explained why he and director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson decided it wouldn’t be “empathetic” to interview the 81-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer born Sylvester Stewart on camera.

“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,” Joseph Patel said. “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.”

Patel added that early on in the film’s production, the pair decided it “doesn’t feel right” to include Stone given the state of his health.

“Ahmir’s first thing he said was, ‘Let’s tell this story with a lot of empathy,’ " Patel continued. “That’s not empathetic.”

Sly Stone in New Jersey in August 2015.Mark Weiss/Getty

Mark Weiss/Getty

The film explores Stone’s life trajectory as frontman of the funk-rock band Sly and the Family Stone. The multiracial group is best known for late-’60s and early ’70s hits like “Everyday People” and “Family Affair” and the landmark 1971 albumThere’s a Riot Goin' On.

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.”

Sly Stone in 1974.Bettmann/Getty

Bettmann/Getty

Questlove added that they omitted certain details, such as the fact that Stone temporarily chose to live in an RV at one point, in favor of ones that depict his humanity.

The film includes anecdotes from Stone’s three children, Novena Carmel, Sylvette Robinson and Sylvester Stewart Jr.

“My favorite part is Novena talking about his favorite pizza,” Questlove said. “I love that.”

SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)is streaming now on Hulu.

source: people.com