Sly Stone, a Grammy winner whose pioneering funk-rock group Sly and the Family Stone produced groundbreaking albums and singles — three of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 — and was the subject of this year’s feature documentary Sly Lives!

His family said Stone died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other underlying health issues.

Born on March 15, 1943, in Denton, Texas, Sylvester Stewart came from a family of devout Christians who took their beliefs with them when they moved to Vallejo, California, a suburb northwest of San Francisco. Reared on church music, he was 8 when he and three of his siblings recorded a gospel single as The Stewart Four.