‘Sly Lives!,’ the original documentary about legendary musician Sly Stone directed by Roots founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, will premiere Thursday, Feb. 13, on Hulu.
Guests featured in the doc, which is subtitled “aka the Burden of Black Genius,” comes via Disney’s Onyx Collective, include Andre 3000, D’Angelo, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, Nile Rogers, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, George Clinton, Ruth Copeland and Clive Davis. Other guest include his bandmates in Sly and the Family Stone — Jerry Martini, Greg Errico, Larry Graham and the late Cynthia Robinson — and family members Sylvette Phunne Robinson, Novena Carmel and Sylvester Stewart Jr.
See a new trailer for the film, which premieres at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, below.
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Sly and the Family Stone formed in the San Francisco Bay area in 1966 and quickly became a pioneering group of the ‘60s, with a multi-racial, multi-gender lineup (rare for the time), an explosive fusion of pop, soul and rock, and relentlessly positive songs like “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People,” “Stand!” and “You Can Make It If You Try.” The group’s 1969 “Stand!” album and electrifying performance at the Woodstock festival cemented them as one of the world’s biggest groups, but drugs and ego overtook Sly, the band’s lead singer, songwriter and undisputed leader, and although he continued to have hits for several years, he gradually spiraled, became reclusive and was homeless for a time. He has made several comeback attempts but none really took hold; however his condition has improved in recent years and he collaborated with Questlove and writer Ben Greenman on an autobiography released last year, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” named after one of the group’s biggest hits.
The film is helmed by the creatives behind Onyx Collective’s Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” who are director Questlove, producer Joseph Patel and editor Josh Pearson. The film hails from MRC, Network Entertainment Inc., Two One Five Entertainment Inc., RadicalMedia, Stardust Films LLC and ID8 Multimedia, Inc., in association with Sony Music Entertainment. It is produced by Patel and Derik Murray. Executive producers are Amit Dey, Brian Gersh (Network Entertainment Inc.), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Two One Five Entertainment Inc.), Shawn Gee (Two One Five Entertainment Inc.), Zarah Zohlman (Two One Five Entertainment Inc.), Common (Stardust Films LLC), Derek Dudley (ID8 Multimedia, Inc.), Shelby Stone (ID8 Multimedia, Inc.), Ron Weisner, Paul Gertz (Network Entertainment Inc.), Kent Wingerak (Network Entertainment Inc.), Ali Pejman (Network Entertainment Inc.), Jon Kamen (RadicalMedia) and Dave Sirulnick (RadicalMedia).