Freddie Stone (born Frederick Jerome Stewart, June 5, 1947) is an American pastor and musician, best known as a co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist in the band

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...

, fronted by his brother Sly and including his sister Rose. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of Sly and the Family Stone. After leaving the band in the late 1970s, Stone signed a short

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

Personal life

His childhood years were spent in

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...

. His parents were Christians and they attended the Pentecostal church. They also were musicians with his father playing violin, harp and guitar and his mother playing guitar as well as piano. His early years were spent at church and without racial inhibition. His mother would babysit the children in the neighborhood who happened to be of all colors. He started playing music when he was twelve. As a result of fighting at Vallejo High School, he was expelled and had to attend

Benicia High School Benicia High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school serving approximately 1,700 students, grades nine through twelve. It is part of the Benicia Unified School District. It is located in Benicia, California, in the Nort ...

. He did quite well there and in his junior year he was MVP on his basketball team. In his senior year he was President of the student body. Not long after he graduated, the Stewart family along with Freddie moved to San Francisco.

Family

Stewart has six children, Casey, Stacey, Freddie Jr., Simon, Joy and Kristi. Grandchildren: Sean Stewart, Kasey Stewart, Kayla Stewart, DJ Pearson, Calise Stewart, Keilan Stewart, Eliana Stewart, Cameron Gaines, Carly Gaines, Lauryen Gaines, Dominic Barger, Caleb Barger.

Ministry

According to a 2009

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

interview with

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...

, Freddie has been, since 1994, Pastor Frederick Stewart, a preacher in his native Vallejo. He became a committed Christian in 1980 and in 1988 he was ordained as a pastor. Over a period of time he was being prepared to take over his uncle's church, the Evangelist Temple Fellowship Center, of which he is currently

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. The church is located on Sonoma Boulevard in Vallejo, California.

Releases

Sly and the Family Stone (1968 publicity photo)

* ''Everywhere You Are'' - Geronimo Inc / Orchard - (2001) * ''Right Now'' - (2012) (Updated version of ''Everywhere You Are'')Blues GR September 4, 201
Legendary Freddie Stone (of Sly & The Family Stone) talks about the most important information in Earth by Michalis Limnios BLUES @ GREECE
/ref> *''Steadfast'' - (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Freddie 1947 births American funk guitarists American rock guitarists American soul guitarists American male guitarists Lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Vallejo, California Sly and the Family Stone members African-American rock musicians Members of the Church of God in Christ American Christian clergy American rhythm and blues guitarists American soul singers American rhythm and blues singers American funk singers Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists African-American guitarists 21st-century African-American male singers 20th-century African-American male singers