Free Republic

Girls don't play trumpet, they told her. Cynthia Robinson had an answer to that — one that would later resonate in the hit song she recorded with Sly and the Family Stone: "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)." At a time when black women were relegated to roles as backup singers... Robinson died of cancer Nov. 23 in Carmichael, Calif. She was 71. Robinson, born Jan. 12, 1944, in Sacramento, was the daughter of LaVern Robinson, a concert pianist, and William Robinson, a military man. Cynthia began playing in the school band as a young girl. She tried various...

Funk singer Sly Stone has been awarded $5 million by a Los Angeles jury in his lawsuit against a former manager and attorney he claimed diverted royalties from his music for their own benefit. The Los Angeles Superior Court announced its verdict on Tuesday, after two days of deliberations. Stone’s litigation, filed under his real name Sylvester Stewart, involved millions of dollars in royalties and stretched over almost five years. He filed suit in 2010, claiming that manager Gerald Goldstein and attorney Glenn Stone in the late 1980s induced him to sign an employment and shareholder agreement with Even Street...