By November of the same year, Sly Stone seemed to pose an answer: “There’s a Riot Goin’ On.” At the time that album was released, Stone, who died this week, at the age of eighty-two, was facing a make-or-break career inflection point.

Sly Stone, musician and frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, died Monday at age 82 after battling lung disease. According to a statement posted by his family on social media, Stone had long struggled with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other underlying health issues.

Mixing styles at a critical moment in American history, Sly Stone helped create the musical world we live in today.