Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin, born March 11, 1950, in New York City, is an American vocalist celebrated as one of the most innovative and technically extraordinary singers in modern music. Son of opera singer Robert McFerrin Sr., he built a career defined almost entirely by the unaccompanied human voice, developing a signature style that combines rapid leaps between register, improvisational vocal percussion, scat singing and multiphonic overtone techniques across a range spanning roughly four octaves — earning him the nickname «The Voice».

McFerrin crossed easily between jazz, pop and classical worlds, performing solo a cappella concerts as readily as conducting orchestras. His best-known recording, the 1988 a cappella single «Don’t Worry, Be Happy», became a chart-topping global hit and won Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards, though it represents only a small fraction of an eclectic catalog that includes jazz collaborations, classical conducting work and children’s and family recordings such as his take on «Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo».

Beyond his commercial breakthrough, McFerrin is respected within the jazz and improvisational-music communities for pushing the boundaries of what a solo voice can do, influencing generations of vocalists and popularizing looping and vocal-percussion techniques well before they became common in contemporary a cappella and beatbox performance.