Skip to main content

Sly and the Family Stone founding member Cynthia Robinson dead at 69

874096 cynthia robinson
Cynthia Robinson's Facebook
Sly and the Family Stone vocalist and trumpeter Cynthia Robinson has died from cancer at 69. The founding member was the musician who told fans to “get up and dance to the music” on 1968 hit Dance to the Music. But she should be known for much more than that: she was one of the first Black female trumpet players to “lead a major American band,” according to BET, and a well-respected veteran musician.

Born in Sacramento, California, Robinson joined the band — initially known as the Stoners — in 1966 and continued working with Sly and the Family Stone until its end in 1975. Billboard reported the sad news, noting that her cancer diagnosis and the establishment of the Cynthia Robinson Cancer Care Fund was first announced in October.

“She covered a lot of ground,” said Martini to Billboard. “She was the first female trumpet player and the first African-American trumpet player in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She wasn’t in the back. She was out front telling you to get up and dance to the music, and she could blow with the best of ’em, always.”

While best known for her time in Sly & the Family Stone, she continued her music career afterwards in Family Stone bassist Larry Graham’s band Graham Central Station. Over the years, she has also worked with George Clinton, Prince, and in Sinbad’s Aruba Summer Soul Festival. More recently, she has performed as part of the Family Stone with saxophonist Jerry Martini and drummer Gregg Errico since 2006.

Her daughter, Sylvette Phunne Stone, has also performed with the Family Stone. Just this year, she sang lead vocals with her daughter on the Family Stone single Do Yo Dance.

In a post on Cynthia Robinson’s Facebook page, representatives for Robinson expressed condolences for the Robinson Family and her bandmates and asked fans to support the Cynthia Robinson Cancer Care Fund.

Editors' Recommendations

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
The 6 best smart speakers for music lovers
amazon echo studio 3d smart speaker lifestyle2

We spend plenty of time talking about how smart today’s smart speakers are — but if you love high-quality audio and uncompressed music, you’re probably interested in the speaker part. What smart speakers will actually give you a worthwhile sound experience as well as extra features that work well with your smart home?

We’ve rounded up the top smart speakers you should look at if you’re serious about your music — starting with Amazon’s own Echo Studio, a speaker dedicated to high-performance sound setups.

Read more
What is spatial audio? Apple’s 3D sound feature fully explained
Person listening to spatial audio using Apple AirPods Max headphones.

At WWDC 2021 (Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple officially added support for spatial audio with Dolby Atmos Music for Apple Music. It quickly became a popular format among consumers, too: Apple estimates that by February 2022, playback of spatial audio tracks had quadrupled from just a few months prior as people experimented with the format. But what exactly is spatial audio? How is it different from (or the same as) Dolby Atmos? And what kind of audio equipment do you need to listen to it?

There's a lot of ground to cover, and some of it is a bit technical, but we're going to break it all down in easy-to-understand terms. You'll be a spatial audio expert in minutes, and you'll know exactly how to access this growing trend in movie and music streaming.
What exactly is spatial audio?

Read more
The best podcasts of 2022
best podcasts

Whether you've already stored all your favorite podcasts in your app of choice, ready for listening, or are new to the world of podcasts, there's no denying their popularity. Podcasts are everywhere these days and have become some of the most beloved entertainment and education mediums worldwide. Whatever you're into, from tech and video game chat to world news and politics or true crime, there are plenty of specialized interest shows to choose from.

With so many podcasts available, there’s no way that you can listen to all of them. To help you out, no matter your interests, we've gathered a variety of shows to turn you on to your next great listen.

Read more