Sly Lives!

2025

Documentary / Music

9
IMDb Rating 7.6/10 10 1166 1.2K

music documentary african american

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Plot summary

An examination of the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone – the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic Sly Stone – that captures the band's reign while shedding light on the burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.

Director

Ahmir-Khalib Thompson Photo
Ahmir-Khalib Thompson

Top cast

Janet Jackson Photo
Janet Jackson as Self - Singer
LL Cool J Photo
LL Cool J as Self - Rapper
Stevie Wonder Photo
Stevie Wonder as Self - Musician
David Letterman Photo
David Letterman as Self - Late Night with David Letterman
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB.x265
1016.08 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 50 min
Seeds 10
2.04 GB
1920*1080
English 5.1
NR
us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 50 min
Seeds 37
4.93 GB
3840*2160
English 5.1
NR
us  es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 50 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by paul-allaer 7 / 10

Nuanced assessment of Sly Stone's career

As "Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)" (2025 release; 112 min) opens, talking heads are gushing about how revolutionary Sly & the Family Stone was (multi-racial! Multi-gendered! Irresistible music!). The film's director then asks prominent Black artists what they think about the burden of Black genius. We then go to "San Francisco 1964", where Sly is a well-known and beloved DJ. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.Couple of comments: this is the second documentary from musician Questlove, whose first documentary "Summer pf Love" won the Oscar for best documentary. Here the Roots drummer assesses the life and times of Sly Stone, who in the late 60s shot out of nowhere like a comet to the very top of the music world and stayed there for a couple of years, only then to fade away rather quickly. (Sly & the Family Stone also feature prominently in the "Summer of Soul" documentary.) One of THE highlights for me was to see how the song "Everyday People" evolved from a slow and quiet song in its early stages to the exuberant iconic singalong as we all know it now. The film features tons of obscure footage, as well as plenty of comments from various talking heads (including Sly's 3 children and several of his ex-es). For a couple of years, Sly & the Family Stone ruled the airwaves and the concert scene. As the movie makes clear, with Sly & the Family Stone, there likely would not be Prince & the Revolution. And without "Thank You", there would be no Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation". And that's just 2 examples how influential Sly has been. If you have seen "Summer of Soul", one of the finest music documentaries I have ever seen, beware that "Sly Lives!" is quite good, but not the truly gold standard that was/is "Summer of Soul"."Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival to immediate acclaim. It started streaming on Hulu just last week, and I watched it the other night. This is currently rated 80% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, a tad too generous in my book. All that aside, if you are a fan of Sly Stone, or liked "Summer of Soul", I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusions.
Reviewed by dngoldman 8 / 10

Powerful and relevant

This fascinating look into the musical career of Sly Stone. The genius gets overused, but it should be applied to Stone, a DJ, arranger, producer, songwriter, and performer. His Family Stone is one of the few projects that was wildly inventive and insanely catchy. And the reification of a specific social ideal of unity that transcended pablum. Yet, the pressure of success, the increasing availability of drugs, and the special burden placed on Black artists (too successful - you're not legit, not successful enough - you out) led to Sly becoming a parody of himself. While the film doesn't shy away from the downside, there is more disturbing material that could have been included. Those stories have been told, and it is time to focus on a particular moment in music history that was defined by Sly.
Reviewed by missesluvjones 9 / 10

Such an inspiring tale!

This documentary was really well done and executed and I love how the producers focused on Sly's creative genius. It's always nice to see a doc that really focuses on the legend and gets it right, from what I can see. Sly and the Family Stone had so many wonderful hits! My mom introduced myself and my siblings to their music when we were just kids and it's stuck with me all throughout. It was tough to watch the dismantling of the band but still beautiful to see them all come together all those years later, even if it were only for a split second.I recommend this to any one who loves music and/or documentaries.
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