14 h. ago ‘Send me some money!’ My unforgettable encounters with the legendary Sly Stone

He went from the towering highs of the 60s and 70s, where he changed the face of music, to the shambolic lows of a decades-long addiction. But interviewing the music genius over the years showed me a man who was awed, revered and strangely shySly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82A trailblazer and icon of hope and painSly Stone – a life in picturesIn 2013, there didn’t seem much point in requesting an interview with Sly Stone. It was 31 years since he had released an album of new material, Ain’t But the One Way, which he had abandoned midway through, vanishing completely from the studio and leaving the producer Stewart Levine to patch together what he could. It was longer still since he had produced any music that was even vaguely close to the standard he had set himself in the late 60s and early 70s – a six-year period bookended by the release of the groundbreaking single Dance to the Music in 1967 and his last truly classic album, Fresh, in 1973 – when he could...

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15 h. ago ‘He changed the rules for all of us who came after’: Lee Child remembers Frederick Forsyth

Forsyth did away with the conventions of thriller-writing and still kept readers enthralled. He reset the whole genre, the author of the Jack Reacher novels writes• Frederick Forsyth, Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent, dies aged 86I remember two things about the first full week of January 1972. I passed my driving test on the Monday, and on the Friday I made my weekly trip to the library and borrowed The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. I had no idea I would one day be a writer myself – at that point I was merely an insatiable reader – but in retrospect that Friday marked an important way station on the journey from one to the other.I gobbled up the book and thought it was fantastic – fast, pacy, exciting, suspenseful and laced with detail and intrigue. Then I thought, wait, what? How was this book working? It was a twin-track thriller – an assassin hunts his target while law enforcement hunts the assassin. But the intended victim was Charles de Gaulle, a real per...

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16 h. ago TikTok star with millions of fans dies as family left 'truly devastated'

Norma, who appeared in hundreds videos over the last four years with her granddaughter Jess, has died aged 91

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18 h. ago TV presenter Patricia Fuenmayor dies at 51 after cancer diagnosis

TV presenter and former Miss South America winner Patricia Fuenmayor has died at the age of 51 after being tragically diagnosed with cancer, leaving behind her husband and kids

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18 h. ago Frederick Forsyth interview: ‘I’ve always been a loner’ – archive, 1973

The Guardian meets the author of the bestseller The Day of the Jackal as it is about to open as a filmFrederick Forsyth dies aged 869 June 1973 Continue reading...

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18 h. ago TV presenter Patricia Fuenmayor dies aged 51 after tragic battle with cancer

TV presenter and former Miss South America winner Patricia Fuenmayor has died aged 51 after being diagnosed with cancer, her network has announced on social media

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19 h. ago Heartbreak as beloved TikTok grandmother whose hilarious videos with her granddaughter made her a viral sensation dies aged 91

Norma and Jess, from Retford in Nottingham, have 2.7 million followers on TikTok. Norma's family announced on Monday evening that she has passed away aged 91.

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30 h. ago Sly Stone was a trailblazer who changed the course of music – and an icon of both hope and pain

With the Family Stone, Sly was so audacious it was hard to believe his brilliance could ever be exhausted – making his unravelling all the more painful to watchSly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82Sly Stone’s greatest songs – ranked!Sly Stone – a life in picturesEven though he recorded three of funk’s most foundational albums – four if you include 1970’s Greatest Hits, as flawless a good time as pop ever delivered – Sly Stone’s subsequent fall from grace was perceived as a grave betrayal of his talent. That Stone’s unravelling was so conspicuous – his drug abuse apparent in every wasted chat show appearance, his infallible hit-machine waning after his Family Stone became estranged – only exacerbated the sting of this loss. But Stone’s imperial era lasted almost a decade and delivered a discography that remains the acme of funk. He changed the course of pop and reconfigured the structure and essence of dance music, multiple times. He was an icon of hope, of pain,...

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30 h. ago Sly Stone was a trailblazer who changed the course of music – and an icon of both hope and pain | Stevie Chick

With the Family Stone, Sly was so audacious it was hard to believe his brilliance could ever be exhausted – making his unravelling all the more painful to watchSly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82Sly Stone’s greatest songs – ranked!Sly Stone – a life in picturesEven though he recorded three of funk’s most foundational albums – four if you include 1970’s Greatest Hits, as flawless a good time as pop ever delivered – Sly Stone’s subsequent fall from grace was perceived as a grave betrayal of his talent. That Stone’s unravelling was so conspicuous – his drug abuse apparent in every wasted chat show appearance, his infallible hit-machine waning after his Family Stone became estranged – only exacerbated the sting of this loss. But Stone’s imperial era lasted almost a decade and delivered a discography that remains the acme of funk. He changed the course of pop and reconfigured the structure and essence of dance music, multiple times. He was an icon of hope, of pain,...

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30 h. ago I'm proof you can REVERSE your age: For decades BRYONY GORDON lived on a diet of cocaine, booze and cigarettes

For the first 37 years of my life, I treated my body like a pharmaceutical dustbin. If I saw something that promised to deliver me a quick, cheap high, I couldn't stay away from it.

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34 h. ago Sly Stone dies aged 82 as tributes are paid to Sly and the Family frontman

Sylvester Stewart was described as a "monumental figure" in the music industry.

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35 h. ago Sly Stone dead: Sly and the Family Stone singer dies, aged 82

Sly Stone, who fronted the band Sly and the Family Stone, has died, aged 82, it's been announced this week, with his family issuing a statement on the news of his death

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35 h. ago Sly Stone death: Funk and soul legend of ‘Dance to the Music’ fame dies aged 82

Sly and the Family Stone rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s

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36 h. ago UK teenager who killed herself was ‘highly affected’ by terrorism arrest, inquest finds

Rhianan Rudd died of ‘self-inflicted act’ after facing charges but coroner says failures in her case were ‘not systemic’A vulnerable teenage girl who died five months after terrorism charges against her were dropped was “highly affected” by her arrest but failures in her case were “not systemic”, a coroner has concluded.Rhianan Rudd died at a children’s home aged 16 in May 2022, as the result of a self-inflicted act, said the chief coroner of England and Wales, Alexia Durran.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

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38 h. ago Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal author, dies aged 86

British novelist and former MI6 agent died after a brief illness

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38 h. ago Frederick Forsyth dies: Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent passes away aged 86

Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth has died after a brief illness at the age of 86.

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38 h. ago Frederick Forsyth dead aged 86 as tributes paid to The Day of The Jackal author

Famous journalist, turned author, Frederick Forsyth has passed away, with several fans rushing to social media to share their condolences and sadness after hearing the news

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38 h. ago Frederick Forsyth dead: The Day of The Jackal author dies, aged 86

We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.

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38 h. ago Frederick Forsyth, Day of the Jackal author and former MI6 agent, dies aged 86

Writer used his experience reporting on De Gaulle’s France to plot his thriller, and continued to draw on real-world research for subsequent bestsellersFrederick Forsyth, the author who turned his adventures as a journalist and work with MI6 into bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness aged 86.Forsyth brought a reporter’s eye to his fiction, transforming the thriller genre with a series of novels including The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File and The Dogs of War. Combining meticulous research with firecracker plots, he published a series of novels that sold more than 75m copies around the world, and won him honours including a CBE in 1997 and the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger award. Continue reading...

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43 h. ago Horse racing icon dies as tributes paid to legend who was 'patriarch of dynasty'

Legendary horse racing trainer Peter Easterby has died at the age of 95 after an illustrious career that saw him win two Cheltenham Gold Cups and score victories at Royal Ascot

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