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A Family Affair: Sly and Cynthia, funk royalty

Phunne Stone is the daughter of funk legends Sly Stone and Cynthia Robinson. She’s learned to live with their fame – for good and bad – and find her own voice.

Phunne Stone is the daughter of funk legends Sly Stone and Cynthia Robinson. She’s learned to live with their fame – for good and bad – and find her own voice. Superstars in the sixties and seventies, Sly and the Family Stone were loved around the world for songs like Stand, Dance to the Music and It's A Family Affair, but when the fairytale ended, Phunne found new ways of keeping the family flame alive.

Musician Nabihah Iqbal had just finished work on her second album, in early 2020, when her studio was burgled. The album, which she had not backed up, was gone. As she stood watching the police dust the room for fingerprints, her grandmother phoned from Karachi, telling her that her grandfather was seriously ill in hospital. Grief-stricken, Nabihah got on a plane to Pakistan, not realising the pandemic meant she would not be able to come home for weeks. Confined to house and garden with her grandmother and slowly-recovering grandfather, she began to rebuild. (First broadcast in May 2023.)

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Gregg Errico, Cynthia Robinson. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Presenters: Asya Fouks and Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Laura Thomas

Available now

41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Boxing Day 2023 12:06GMT
  • Boxing Day 2023 18:06GMT
  • Boxing Day 2023 23:06GMT
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 03:06GMT

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