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 shy

American songwriter lit up generations of dancefloors with his group Sly and the Family Stone

Leading Sly and the Family Stone, he helped redefine the landscape of pop, funk and rock in the late 1960s and ’70s.

The star behind the band Sly and the Family Stone had been battling numerous health issues