Cynthia Robinson dead: Sly and the Family Stone co-founder dies at 69

Cynthia Robinson, the trumpeter and co-founder of seminal funk group Sly and the Family Stone, died Monday of cancer, according to her Facebook page. She was 69 years old.

Robinson became acquainted with Sly Stone and the rest of the band members by joining The Stoners, a predecessor to the Family Stone. She was a foundational piece to the resulting group, becoming one of the first prominent black women trumpeters in popular music. In addition to her harmonious trumpet riffs, Robinson added vocal ad libs over tracks, such as in “Dance to the Music” and “I Want to Take You Higher.” She played with the band until it broke up in 1975, then periodically played on Sly Stone’s solo records.

Robinson was born in Sacramento on Jan. 12, 1946. Growing up, Robinson imagined playing with the era’s preeminent R&B and blues stars. “I used to daydream that I was onstage playing the solos; I’m playing with B.B. King and I’m playing with Lowell Fulsom, Jimmy McCracklin,” she told Family Stone biographer Joel Selvin, via Billboard. “And I literally ended up being in a band that backed them up at different clubs. It was like a dream come true, but that was as big as I could dream.”

Upon hearing about her death, The Roots drummer Questlove penned a tribute on Instagram. “Goodbye to Cynthia Robinson. Music’s original ‘hypeman’ 20 years before Public Enemy pioneered the ‘Vice President’ position,” he writes. “But she wasn’t just a screaming cheerleading foil to Sly & Freddie’s gospel vocals. She was a KICK ASS trumpet player.”

Her cancer diagnosis was announced in October with the creation of the Cynthia Robinson Cancer Care Fund.