Roy Ayers, the legendary vibraphonist and jazz-funk pioneer best known for his song “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”, has died. He was 84.
“It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4th, 2025 in New York City after a long illness,” his family said in a statement. “He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed.” They went on to add that “a celebration of Roy’s life will be forthcoming.”
Born in Los Angeles on September 10, 1940, Ayers was raised in a musical household. His destiny was foreshadowed at age five when jazz legend Lionel Hampton handed him his first pair of mallets after seeing the young Ayers dancing enthusiastically during a show at the Paramount Theater. Though the gift was symbolic at the time, Ayers would eventually pick up the vibraphone at age 17, going on to become one of the instrument’s most innovative and celebrated masters.
Ayers’ early career saw him playing traditional jazz in the hard bop scene of the 1960s, but it was his embrace of new sounds in the following decade that cemented his legacy. With his groundbreaking 1970 album Ubiquity, Ayers began fusing jazz improvisation with funk grooves, soulful horns, and smooth vocals, helping to forge a new, syncretic subgenre that would help redefine jazz for the modern era.
In 1976, Ayers released Everybody Loves the Sunshine, a landmark album that secured his place in music history. Its title track became a genre-transcending classic and one of the most sampled songs of all time, appearing in over 100 tracks including Dr. Dre’s “My Life”, Mary J. Blige’s “My Life”, and 2Pac‘s “Lost Souls”. Ayers’ warm, melodic grooves became a foundational touchstone for hip-hop producers and were sampled by artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Pharrell Williams, and countless others. Over the decades, Ayers worked with a long list of collaborators including Alicia Keys, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Tyler, The Creator, and many more, making him one of the most prolific musicians to cross over from the jazz world into mainstream pop culture.
Roy Ayers – “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”
Ayers’ innovative approach to the vibraphone, combined with his forward-thinking fusion of jazz with contemporary styles, made him a seminal figure in the development of acid jazz, house music, and neo-soul. His influence extended into the new jazz movement of the 2000s, where artists like Robert Glasper, a musical disciple of Ayers, continued to blur the lines between jazz, hip-hop, funk, and electronic music.
“There’s nothing you can describe,” Glasper said of Ayers’ signature sound in a 2015 interview. “It’s just Roy Ayers.”
Dan Charnas, author of Dilla Time, summed up the impact of Ayers’ passing succinctly, noting that to many people in the hip-hop world, “It’s like losing the hydrogen atom.”
Roy Ayers Tiny Desk Concert (2018)
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