It happened this past week ... we learned of the passing of two giants of popular music: Brian Wilson, of the Beach Boys; and Sly Stone, frontman of Sly and the Family Stone.

Musician Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone, performs at the Woodstock Festival on August 17, 1969 in Bethel, New York. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Sly Stone

Born Sylvester Stewart in 1943, he became "Sly" when a classmate misspelled his first name on the chalkboard.

A gifted musician, by four he was singing on stage. He made his first recording at 9, and was working as a DJ when he formed a band in 1966.

Just a year later, "Dance to the Music" launched Sly and the Family Stone – the first major group to include Black and White men and women – into super-stardom.

Sly and the Family Stone perform "Da

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