Sly Stone, one of the pioneers of the late 1960s and '70s funk music scene, has lost everything and is now living in a van parked on a rough and tumble street in Los Angeles.
The 68-year-old, whose group Sly & the Family Stone released a string of hits including Dance to the Music, Everyday People and Hot Fun in the Summertime, is now penniless.
In his heyday, Sly lived in sprawling mansions in Beverly Hills and Napa Valley, California.
Penniless: Sly Stone, pictured in Los Angeles in 2008, is now broke and living in a van in Los Angeles;
But those days are long gone and the singer now calls a van his home.
According to the New York Post, which caught up with the singer, his fortune was stolen by a combination of excess, substance abuse and financial mismanagement.
'I like my small camper,' he told the paper. 'I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving.'
Legend: Sly & the Family Stone were pioneers of late 1960s and early '70s funk music genre;
The van is parked on a residential street in the Crenshaw neighbourhood, where director John Singleton's gritty film Boyz n the Hood was set.
A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day, and the singer showers inside their house.
The musician is now said to be suing a former business manager.
Fast life: Sly partied hard during his heyday and lived a life of excess;
Yet despite all of his problems, Sly said he still wants to perform.
'My music is a format that will encourage you to have a song you won’t forget. That’s why I got so much money, that there are so many people around, and that’s why I am in court. Millions of dollars!' He said.
'But now please tell everybody, please, to give me a job, play my music. I’m tired of all this s--t, man,' the singer said.
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