Sly Stone living on welfare, claims documentary | Music | guardian.co.ukSly Stone living on welfare, claims documentary
The funk legend's financial woes have been revealed in a new film that claims he is dependent on social security and living in cheap hotels
Sly Stone ... film claims the funk pioneer has suffered a major financial crisis. Photograph: Zak Hussein/PA
Funk legend Sly Stone is living on the dole, according to a new film, staying in cheap hotels and campervans. A forthcoming documentary by Willem Alkema alleges that Stone was betrayed by manager Jerry Goldstein, cutting off access to his royalties.
Representatives for Sly or the Family Stone have not yet commented on Alkema's claims, which appeared in a YouTube trailer for Coming Back for More. Alkema is a Dutch filmmaker known for a previous documentary about Stone, Dance to the Music. His new film, due out this autumn, claims to include Sly Stone's first interview in 20 years.
This claim, however, isn't true – Stone spoke to the Los Angeles Times in 2007, and again with journalist Jeff Kaliss for a book published last year. He also appeared on KCRW radio in May. But certainly Stone has been reclusive, offering few points of access since his induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
According to Alkema, Stone's financial security depended on a contract signed with Jerry Goldstein in the late 80s. As part of that agreement, Goldstein acquired rights to Stone's music while paying the singer "fixed expenses" and a regular allowance. Due to a "debt agreement", the film claims, Goldstein "turned off the tap" of payments – forcing Stone to rely on social security. He has since been staying in cheap hotels and campervans.
"Although legally the father of funk has a solid contestable case," the trailer states, "he lacks the funds to engage a lawyer to proceed his case."
The trailer also claims that Stone had been working with Michael Jackson, and that the King of Pop had commissioned the 66-year-old to write songs for his new album. Stone apparently hoped that this would solve his financial woes.
Though Stone has performed only a handful of concerts in the last five years, this is the first word of the star experiencing a major fiscal crisis. At the time of his 2007 interview with the LA Times, he was reportedly living in a "large country home" in California's Napa Valley.