Sly Stone Homeless, Lives in a Van

Some rock stars make headlines when they're having trouble building mega-million-dollar dream homes (like The Edge, who wants to construct a massive Malibu estate), but funk pioneer Sly Stone doesn't have that problem: About 30 miles east of the U2 guitarist's controversial compound, Stone has been living in a small camper parked on a residential street in the rough Los Angeles neighborhood of Crenshaw. One of music's most influential legends is on the edge of homelessness.

How did Stone go from the Beverly Hills mansion he once owned to a Winnebago? A combination of bad business decisions, a greedy manager, and decades of drug use that ate into his savings. Amazingly, Stone is taking his troubles in stride, telling the New York Post, "I like my small camper. I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving." Still, the musician says he wants to recoup the cash he lost over the past decades.

Sly and the Family Stone, the band Sly formed with his siblings Freddie and Rose, were one of the most influential groups of the Woodstock era, seamlessly blending elements of funk, R&B, psychedelic rock, and soul into chart-topping hits like "Family Affair," "Everybody People," and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)." They released landmark albums like 1969's Stand and 1971's There's a Riot Goin' On. Stone's group changed the trajectory of American music, and everyone from Michael Jackson and Parliament/Funkadelic to Prince and Red Hot Chili Peppers were inspired by his work -- Tupac Shakur and the Wu-Tang Clan even sampled his songs. However, by 1987, Stone ditched the music industry completely...More