NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Roy Ayers, a legendary jazz vibraphonist, keyboardist, composer and vocalist known for his spacy, funky 1976 hit 鈥淓verybody Loves the Sunshine鈥� that has been sampled by such R&B and rap heavyweights as Mary J. Blige, N.W.A., Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Mos Def and Ice Cube, has died. He was 84.
The Ayers family said in a Facebook post that he died Tuesday in New York City after suffering from a long illness. 鈥淗e lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed,鈥� it said.
Ayers had 12 albums land in the Billboard 200 album charts, the highest being 鈥淵ou Send Me鈥� in 1978 at No. 48. His 鈥淭he Best of Roy Ayers鈥� spend 50 weeks on the Contemporary Jazz Album chart.
His music never went out of style, appearing in the 2019 鈥淨ueen & Slim: The Soundtrack.鈥� His song 鈥淩unning Away鈥� propelled A Tribe Called Quest鈥檚 1989 opus 鈥淒escription of a Fool,鈥� and the song was sampled by Big Daddy Kane and Common. Ayers was heard on Tyler, the Creator鈥檚 album 鈥淐herry Bomb鈥� and Erykah Badu's 鈥淢ama鈥檚 Gun.鈥�
鈥淲ell, I have more sampled hits than anybody," he said in a 2004 interview with Wax Poetics magazine. "I might not have more samples than James Brown, but I鈥檝e had more sampled hits. Oh, man, and there鈥檚 a few I don鈥檛 know about.鈥�
One of Ayers' most popular albums was "Lifeline," which peaked at No. 9 on what has become the Top R&B/Hip-hop chart in 1977 and contained the hit 鈥淩unning Away,鈥� which peaked at No. 19 on the R&B chart and became a massive club hit.
During a visit to Johannesburg in 2017, Ayers offered some rhythmic advice for youth in the city's Soweto area: Get serious, be inspired, rap on, keep on and 鈥渆ventually you鈥檒l get it.鈥�
鈥淵ou guys, you have to pick your plateau. Get serious about everything,鈥� said Ayers. He also named a few musicians who have inspired him: Nigerian Fela Kuti (鈥渉e was really like a genius鈥�), Herbie Mann (鈥渉e taught me the business鈥�) and Miles Davis (鈥淗e was the coolest. He was the grandmaster. He was out of sight鈥�).
After debuting on record with hard bop tenor saxophonist Curtis Amy鈥檚 group in 1962, he teamed with jazz flutist Mann to record three albums for Atlantic Records 鈥� 鈥淰irgo Vibes,鈥� 鈥淪toned Soul Picnic鈥� and 鈥淒addy Bug鈥� 鈥� and wrote and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film 鈥淐offy鈥� starring Pam Grier. He also moved on to work with David 鈥淔athead鈥� Newman, the tenor mainstay of Ray Charles鈥� great 鈥�60s orchestra.
In 2017, he appeared alongside such acts as Tom Petty, the Shins, Alabama Shakes, Charles Bradley and William Bell at the eclectic Arroyo Seco Festival in Los Angeles.
Ayers is survived by his wife Argerie, and their children Mtume and Ayana Ayers.
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
