{"id":3578,"date":"2025-03-06T07:42:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T07:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?p=3578"},"modified":"2025-03-07T20:11:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T20:11:19","slug":"roy-ayers-jazz-funk-icon-and-everybody-loves-sunshine-star-passes-away-at-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?p=3578","title":{"rendered":"“Roy Ayers, Jazz-Funk Icon and ‘Everybody Loves Sunshine’ Star Passes Away at 84”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Roy Ayers, the legendary jazz vibraphonist best known for his iconic hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,”<\/em> has passed away following a prolonged illness, as confirmed by his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a heartfelt statement posted on his official Facebook page, his family shared that the music icon died on Tuesday in New York City after battling a long-term illness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they did not disclose the specific nature of his condition, they expressed their grief and gratitude for his remarkable life, stating, “He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be deeply missed. The family kindly requests privacy during this difficult time. A celebration of Roy\u2019s life will be announced at a later date.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayers\u2019 most famous track, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,”<\/em> became a cultural touchstone and has been widely sampled and covered by numerous artists over the years, including Kanye West, Common, Mary J. Blige, D\u2019Angelo, and Tyler, the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its enduring popularity is evident in its staggering 130 million streams on Spotify to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayers first gained widespread recognition through his work on the soundtrack for the 1973 Pam Grier-led Blaxploitation film Coffy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it was the release of “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”<\/em> in 1976 that solidified his status as a musical pioneer, blending jazz, funk, and soul into a sound that resonated with audiences worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy Ayers is survived by his wife, Argerie, and their two children, Ayana and Mtume. He was 84 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rest in peace, Roy Ayers. Your music and legacy will continue to shine brightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1BF1hgnDcX<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/1BAkHPm55t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roy Ayers, the legendary jazz vibraphonist best known for his iconic hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” has passed away following a prolonged illness, as confirmed by his family. In a heartfelt statement posted on his official Facebook page, his family shared that the music icon died on Tuesday in New York City after battling a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[2361,271,354,582,2420,393,2419],"class_list":["post-3578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-celebritydeaths","tag-hollywood","tag-hollywoodall-2","tag-hollywoodall-com","tag-jazzmusic","tag-latest","tag-royayers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14.jpg",1200,714,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-300x179.jpg",300,179,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-768x457.jpg",768,457,true],"large":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-1024x609.jpg",880,523,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14.jpg",1200,714,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14.jpg",1200,714,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"zox-large-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"zox-mid-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-600x337.jpg",600,337,true],"zox-square-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"zox-small-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"in-article-post-thumb":["https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/H-ALL-14.jpg",150,89,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Hollywood-All Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/?author=7"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Roy Ayers, the legendary jazz vibraphonist best known for his iconic hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” has passed away following a prolonged illness, as confirmed by his family. In a heartfelt statement posted on his official Facebook page, his family shared that the music icon died on Tuesday in New York City after battling a…","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3580,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3578\/revisions\/3580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}