Sly showed up, and on time. That was the big news from the forty-eighth annual Grammy Awards broadcast on February 8th in Los Angeles. Perhaps rock's greatest recluse for more than two decades, Sly Stone walked onstage at the Staples Center to take his place as leader of the psychedelic soul-funk pioneers Sly and the Family Stone. The appearance was brief: a few awkward minutes. It was his first public performance in nineteen years.
Where had Sly been? No one seems to know for sure. Following a series of cocaine-related arrests in the Eighties -- including one with George Clinton while recording a Funkadelic album -- Stone vanished around 1984, after his friend and touring partner Bobby Womack got him into rehab. Rumors vary from Stone living in splendor in Beverly Hills to living in squalor in a rough L.A. neighborhood. Nobody, not even the members of his old band, can say where he's been or what he's been doing.
Starting in the mid-Seventies, Stone became known less for his groundbreaking string of albums with the Family Stone -- including the politically charged Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On -- and more for his erratic behavior. He was frequently late for concerts, or he'd fail to turn up at all.
After his drug abuse broke up his band, Stone retreated into a world of cocaine and PCP, child-support payments, arrests and guns. The money dried up. He remained hidden from public view, living first in a series of apartments in the greater Los Angeles area, sometimes with roommates and female assistants, and then moving to a house in Southern California about fifteen years ago.
Pre-Grammy speculation centered on whether or not Stone would even show for the special tribute, which included Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, among others. But there he was, at the first rehearsal, looking spectral. "Sly came in a sort of Unabomber camouflage get-up that hid his face," a witness says. "He ran through the number without playing or singing much -- or talking to the people onstage -- and then fled." Stone didn't make it to the Staples Center for dress rehearsal on the morning of the awards. "Sly couldn't get past security," says a Grammy source. "Apparently, they thought he was a homeless guy."
For the show itself, Stone returned in style. Wearing a silver overcoat, oversize shades, a belt embroidered with the word "Sly" and a blond mohawk, the singer looked like a hunchback Viking outfitted for a 1970s broadcast of Soul Train. A recent motorcycle accident had left his right hand broken and bandaged, and he was bent over at the waist as if bothered by back or neck pain.
As five of the six original Family Stone members played behind him, Stone jabbed at his keyboard and appeared to sing, though his vocals were almost inaudible. He then flashed a peace sign and walked off the stage midsong. After the show, a rumor went around that Stone was suffering from severe stage fright and had been seen vomiting. Steven Tyler says that's false: "I was the first one to say, 'I'm going to look in his eyes.' I take great pride in knowing that if I just met you, I could tell if you were on blow, pot or you just yelled at your old lady. Sly looked great. He was sharp, astute." Saxophone player Jerry Martini reports, "Sly still had that sparkle in his eye."
The performance on Grammy night marked the first time Sly and the Family Stone shared a stage since their 1993 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Then, Sly stayed only a few seconds, before disappearing into the night.
Twenty years ago, Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich also put together a Fillmore anniversary show at which Sly appeared. "For the Fillmore thing," he says, "he locked himself in his room, did a couple of numbers on the show and then left. So I didn't think this time was going to be much different. For us, it was a no-lose situation. The fact that he came at all and got onstage, that's still what people are talking about."
Whatever his condition, Stone is still writing music. Guitarist Freddie Stone says his brother Sly has been playing him new tunes over the phone, some with a political edge: "Sly is a thinker. He is very much concerned about what's going on with the planet right now. Sly's been writing. He hasn't stopped." Family Stone drummer Greg Errico adds, "Sly's been calling two or three times a day lately, singing over the phone." A source close to Stone says, "He has a home recording studio and makes music all the time. Hopefully, this is the start of him wanting to share it with the world."
Though most members of the original Family Stone are eager to regroup and tour, serious questions remain about whether Stone is physically able to do so. Joe Perry remains guardedly optimistic. "Just the fact that Sly showed up that night, as busted up as he was, showed me he really wanted it to happen," he says. "I hope he got a taste of what it's like having the band behind him. Maybe that's the only thing that will get him going."