Artist · chart history · #273 in indie & aaa artist polls
Sly and the Family Stone
Band San Francisco United States Active 1967–1975
Sly and the Family Stone formed in 1967 in San Francisco, United States and was active until 1975. Sly and the Family Stone has 43 chart appearances on 21 radio countdowns from 13 stations on RockLists, spanning 1991–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Everyday People”, which appears on 12 lists with a best position of #125. The station that charted Sly and the Family Stone most often is WFPK (Louisville, KY), with 9 appearances.
Sly and the Family Stone came out of San Francisco with a lineup that looked like nothing else in rock: Sly Stone leading from the front as singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, his brother Freddie on guitar and sister Rose on keyboards, Cynthia Robinson blowing trumpet, Jerry Martini on saxophone, Greg Errico on drums and Larry Graham thumping the bass. They were the first major American rock group whose lineup mixed races and genders, and the music was every bit as mixed: funk, soul, gospel, R&B and psychedelic rock all thrown in the pot and boiled into psychedelic soul.
The hits came thick and fast, and "Dance to the Music", "Everyday People", "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" all went Top 10 on the Hot 100, each one a riot of chanted hooks, horn blasts and Graham's popping bass. Stand!, in 1969, married pop smarts to pointed social commentary, with "I Want to Take You Higher" and the title track setting the dance floor alight.
Then the lights dimmed. There's a Riot Goin' On in 1971, with "Family Affair", and Fresh in 1973, with "If You Want Me to Stay", traded the sunshine for murky, slowed-down funk, just as influential as the early records. By 1975 drug problems and personal clashes had broken the band apart. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 1993.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Sly and the Family Stone on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everyday People | 12 | #125 | – | – | |
| 2 | Dance to The Music | 6 | #75 | – | – | |
| 3 | Family Affair | 5 | #128 | – | – | |
| 4 | Thank You | 3 | #16 | – | – | |
| 5 | Hot Fun In The Summertime | 2 | #28 | – | – | |
| 6 | Thank You (For Lettin' Me Be Myself) | 1 | #124 | – | – | |
| 7 | Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin | 1 | #166 | – | – | |
| 8 | If You Want Me To Stay | 3 | #820 | – | – | |
| 9 | Thank You Falletine Me Be Mice Elf | 1 | #295 | – | – | |
| 10 | Stand | 2 | #385 | – | – | |
| 11 | I Wanna Take You Higher | 1 | #54 | – | – | |
| 12 | Everybody Is a Star | 2 | #559 | – | – | |
| 13 | I Want To Take You Higher | 2 | #714 | – | – | |
| 14 | Hot Fun in the Summer | 1 | #1978 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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