Sly Stone awarded $5m stolen by his manager after 5-year lawsuit

Sly Stone, a funk singer who found success in the late 1960s with the group Sly and the Family Stone producing evergreen hits like “Everyday People”, “Dance to the Music” and “Family Affair”, has been awarded $5m by a California jury from a former manager and attorney. 

Stone (real name Sylvester Stewart), who is now 71, filed the lawsuit in 2010 contesting the management of his affairs after finding out that the agreement he had signed with Gerald Goldstein in the 80s had been used as a way to divert millions of dollars in royalties. 

Effectively Stone didn’t receive a cent in royalties from 1989 and 2000 in what is possibly one of the worse cases of royalty accounting manipulation in the music industry’s history from a management perspective. 

The lawsuit filed in January 2010 asked for $50m, and whilst the jury didn’t award him the full amount this week’s outcome is a positive one and will hopefully allow Stone to live out his retirement comfortably. 

(Andrea Leonelli)