celebrity.estateAn EGRET.LAW propertyWorld map3D timeline
Home / Music and sport / Sly Stone was living in a van when a jury awarded him $5 million in stolen royalties, and…
Case file s568 · Music and sport · 2025
See 2025 on the timelineSee it in 3D
2025
Sly Stone: Sly Stone performing on Midnight Special on NBC, 1973
Sly Stone. NBC. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
9 June 2025
Place
Los Angeles, California · United States
Field
funk (Sly and the Family Stone) · Royalty and nobility on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (California) · Common law
Historical event
Woodstock, 1969; the funk era
Religion
Sly Stone: Other Christian (recorded as Church of God in Christ on Wikidata)
Music and sportNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Sly Stone was living in a van when a jury awarded him $5 million in stolen royalties, and the award against his manager was reversed

Sly Stone led Sly and the Family Stone, whose hits included "Everyday People" and "Family Affair." In 2011 reports showed he was homeless and living in a camper van in Los Angeles. He sued his former manager, Gerald Goldstein, attorney Glenn Stone and Even St. Productions. He alleged they had used complicated contracts to divert his royalties from 1989 onward. In January 2015 a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded him $5 million: $2.5 million against Even St. Productions, $2.45 million against Goldstein and $50,000 against Glenn Stone. The defendants denied wrongdoing. Their counsel said, "We are disappointed in the finding and believe it will be changed by further proceedings." Even St. Productions had declared bankruptcy in 2013, making that share hard to collect. The award against Goldstein was reversed in October 2016†. In 2023 Stone published a memoir, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"†. He died in June 2025 at 82†.

What the law took from it

A jury verdict is worth only what the defendant can pay, and a bankrupt company pays nothing.

Sources
  1. thegrio.comPress
  2. factmag.comPress
  3. celebritynetworth.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Sly Stone was living in a van when a jury awarded him $5 million in stolen royalties, and the award against his manager was reversed,” story s568, https://www.celebrity.estate/sly-stone-2025, updated 30 October 2026.

Related cases

Each one shares a person, a kind of fight, a subject, a period or a place with this case. The line under each headline says which.

Dolly Parton: Publicity shot of American singer Dolly Parton, 19772026 · Nashville, TennesseeDolly Parton's estate company sued her nephew and former security chief one month after her death, alleging threats to ruin her brandShared: also Music and sport; 1 year apart; also North AmericaDolly Parton died in Nashville on 25 August 2026, aged 80. Her husband, Carl Dean, had died in March 2025. They had no children.wbur.org and 5 moreMichael Jackson: Michael Jackson 1983 (3x4 cropped) (contrast)2009 · Los Angeles, California, USAMichael Jackson's estate put its value at $5.1 million, the Tax Court set $111.5 million, and a judge later ordered $625,000 in bonuses returnedShared: also Music and sport; 16 years apart; also North AmericaMichael Jackson died on 25 June 2009, aged 50, of acute propofol intoxication; the Los Angeles County coroner ruled it a homicide.abcnews.com and 8 moreMichael Jackson: Michael Jackson 1983 (3x4 cropped) (contrast)2009 · Los Angeles, California, USAMichael Jackson's companies face abuse suits from Wade Robson and James Safechuck, revived on appeal in 2023 and set for trial in 2028Shared: also Music and sport; 16 years apart; also North AmericaWade Robson testified for Michael Jackson at his 2005 child molestation trial, at which a California jury acquitted Jackson. After Jackson's death on 25 June 2009, Robson sued in 2013 and James Safechuck in 2014.The Guardian and 6 moreLisa Marie Presley: Lisa Marie Presley (cropped)2023 · West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USALisa Marie Presley's mother contested her trust, then resigned as trustee in exchange for $1 million and a grave near Elvis at GracelandShared: also Music and sport; 2 years apart; also North AmericaIn February 2018 Lisa Marie Presley sued her former business manager, Barry Siegel, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that her $100 million trust had fallen to $14,000 in cash by 2016; he countersued for $800,000 and blamed…unicourt.com and 10 moreLisa Marie Presley: Lisa Marie Presley (cropped)2023 · Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, USALisa Marie Presley's trust was told it owed $3.8 million on Graceland, and the Missouri woman who forged the loan got 57 months in prisonShared: also Music and sport; 2 years apart; also North AmericaLisa Marie Presley died on 12 January 2023. Graceland, which she owned, was held in her trust, and her daughter Riley Keough became sole trustee that year.justice.gov and 5 morePrince at Coachella 001: Prince performing at Coachella 2008.2016 · Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota, USAPrince died without a will, more than 45 people claimed to be his relatives, and his estate took 6 years and a tax court case to divideShared: also Music and sport; 9 years apart; also North AmericaPrince was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on 21 April 2016, aged 57. An autopsy found fentanyl toxicity. He left no will, spouse or children.nbcwashington.com and 16 more

Where this case sits

Music and sportNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States