Cynthia Robinson: News Report of Her Death - November 23, 2015

Trail blazing Sly and the Family Stone band member, Cynthia Robinson, has died. She was 71 years old. Cynthia Robinson (January 12, 1944 – November 23, 2015) was an American musician, best known for being a founding member, the trumpeter and a vocalist in Sly and the Family Stone. Her voice and presence were featured in the hits "Dance to the Music" and "I Want to Take You Higher." Questlove of the hip hop band the Roots has called Robinson the original "hypeman." Robinson was among the first female trumpeters in a major American band, and the first such player in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Robinson’s career with Sly Stone began in 1966 when the bandleader put together a group called the Stoners. They fell apart quickly, though, and she became a fixture of the Family Stone – a group whose members were male and female and represented different races, a novel idea at the time – alongside her cousin Larry Graham. She was the only member of the original Family Stone to continue working with Sly Stone after the band fell apart in 1975. She also played in the funk band Graham Central Station with Family Stone bandmate and cousin Larry Graham, starting in the 1990s.[5] She also worked with George Clinton and Prince.