Vibraphonist Roy Ayers Dies at 84

By DownBeat I Mar. 11, 2025

Ayers began to play the vibraphone at age 5 after seeing a performance by Lionel Hampton, who gave him a pair of vibraphone mallets.
(Photo: Mark Sheldon)

Vibraphonist and composer Roy Ayers, whose soul-driven, electrified approach influenced generations of R&B-adjacent musicians, died March 4 at his home in Manhattan after a long illness. He was 84.

His commercially successful career saw the release of more than 40 albums, and he collaborated with globally celebrated artists such as Wayne Henderson, Rick James, the Roots, George Benson and Fela Kuti, as well as the “neo-soul”-influenced producer Adrien Younge.

Roy Edward Ayers Jr. was born on Sept. 10, 1940, in Los Angeles to a musical family. He began to play the vibraphone at age 5 after seeing a live performance by Lionel Hampton, who bestowed a pair of vibraphone mallets upon the youngster. While in his early 20s, he began playing and recording with L.A.-based saxophonists Curtis Amy and Vi Redd. Ayers’ debut album, West Coast Vibes (United Artists), was released in 1963. He went on to gain national exposure starting in 1966, when he joined flutist Herbie Mann’s band. Mann, famous for the strong groove element inherent in his music, helped the young vibraphonist land recording contracts and served as a producer on albums released under his own name in the late 1960s.

The band Roy Ayers Ubiquity, which brought him to the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, was considered highly influential in the then-burgeoning jazz-funk realm. Ayers’ 1976 hit “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” is the most recognized title in his acclaimed oeuvre of original songs, which have been sampled hundreds of times by hip-hop and R&B musicians. Other memorable tunes by Ayers include “Coffey Is The Color” (from the 1973 Pam Grier film Coffey), “Love,” “Running Away,” “Love Will Bring Us Back Together” and “We Live In Brooklyn, Baby.”

He is survived by his wife, Argerie, and their children, Mtume and Ayana Ayers. DB