The New York Post is reporting that Sly Stone, one of the greatest figures in soul music history, is homeless and living in a van.
Stone, 68, parks on a residential street in Los Angeles' Crenshaw neighborhood. A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day. He also showers at their home, and their son helps out as his assistant and driver.
It is sad to learn that he joins a long line of recording artists who lost their fortunes to financial mismanagement and substance abuse. However, he does still record music with the help of his laptop, laying down tracks that, for now, he is keeping to himself. A financial dispute over royalties has made him wary of record companies and managers, although he did release an album this summer.
In his heyday, he lived at 783 Bel Air Road, a four-bedroom, 5,432-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion that once belonged to John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas.
The Tudor-style house was tricked out in his signature funky black, white and red color scheme. Shag carpet. Tiffany lamps in every room. A round water bed in the master bedroom. There were parties where Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Miles Davis would drop by, where Etta James would break into "At Last" by the bar.
Just four years ago, he resided in a Napa Valley house so large it could only be described as a "compound," with a vineyard out back and multiple cars in the driveway.
Sly's message to his fans: "Give me a job, play my music!"
Are you listening?
Source: the New York Post.
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