THANK YOU

No star has risen to such heights only to fall as far as Sly Stone.

Sly was already a rising star in 1969, but when Sly & The Family Stone took the stage one legendary night at Woodstock, he cemented his place as an icon. Sly went on to score dozens of chart-topping hits in the late 1960s and 70s and become one of the most ground-breaking artists of his generation. But he was so much more than a pop star. A truly transformational figure, Sly was Prince before Prince, Dave Chappelle before Dave Chappelle, Kanye before Kanye. He went to places no other Black artist had ever been before, and in doing so, left a mark on all who came after him.

Only to see things spectacularly crash.

Within five years of Woodstock, a toxic mix of undiagnosed social anxiety disorder, a massive drug habit, and predatory and racist industry practices had diminished his gifts, spiraled him into addiction, and ultimately left him homeless and without control of his publishing or even his own name and likeness. Attempts to regain his career and life momentum failed as Sly's once incandescent star began to burn out.

Now in THANK YOU (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Sly Stone will finally share his story in his own words and reclaim his rightful place in the musical pantheon, to shine a light on "energy and memory, on hope and on dope, on family and calamity, on the songs, the sighs, the truth, the lies and the man standing at the center of it all." A memoir of music, addiction, and memory, Sly's story also comes at a time when Sly's influence on contemporary music has never been clearer, as he is name-checked by artists from Billie Eilish to Bruno Mars to Frank Ocean.

Questlove recently announced that he would be following up his award-winning documentary Summer of Soul with a film about Sly. A memoir written completely in Sly's own voice, he'll also have collaborators in Ben Greenman, a Sly obsessive and the gifted co-writer who has worked with Brian Wilson, George Clinton, Questlove, and Steven Van Zandt.