Rose Stone

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Rose Stone, wearing her trademark wig, on The Ed Sullivan Show performing "Everyday People", December 28, 1968.
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Rose Stone, wearing her trademark wig, on The Ed Sullivan Show performing "Everyday People", December 28, 1968.

Rose Stone (or Rosie Stone, born Rosemary Stewart on March 21, 1945 in Vallejo, California) is an African-American singer and keyboardist. She is best known as one of the lead singers in Sly & the Family Stone, a popular psychedelic soul/funk band founded by her brothers Sly Stone and Freddie Stone. Rose often wore a blond wig while in performance with the band, and was noted for her strong vocals.

After the band's dissolution in 1975, Rose, by then married to Sly's former bodyguard Bubba Banks, recorded a solo album on Motown Records as Rose Banks. During the 1980s and 1990s, Rose worked as a backup session singer, appearing on recordings by Michael Jackson, Ringo Starr, and several others. Rose is today part of the musical department at her brother Freddie's church. She returned to her gospel roots in 1983 when she sang on Sandra Crouch's Grammy-winning album We Sing Praises, soloing on the old hymn "Power in the Blood". She has been associated with the Crouch family and the music department of Christ Memorial COGIC in California for many years.

Her daughter, Lisa Stone, is now singing with Vet Stone and Cynthia Robinson in a Sly & the Family Stone tribute band.

In 2006 Rose reunited with The Original Family Stone