Ray Parker Jr.

Ray Parker Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer from Detroit, Michigan, whose career spans session work, group leadership and solo pop-funk stardom. Coming up as a teenage session guitarist in Detroit, he played behind major artists including Stevie Wonder and the Spinners before relocating to pursue a broader career, bringing a tight, funk-schooled guitar style that would define his later production work.

In the late 1970s he formed the band Raydio, scoring hits like «Jack and Jill» and «You Can't Change That» that blended funk, R&B and pop hooks. As a solo artist he became a defining voice of early-1980s pop-funk, but it was his 1984 theme song «Ghostbusters», written for the blockbuster film, that made him a household name and a permanent fixture of pop culture, topping charts and earning enduring recognition well beyond his other work.

Parker's sound is built on funky, melodic guitar playing, smooth R&B vocal hooks, and a knack for radio-ready pop songwriting, reflecting his roots as an in-demand session player turned hitmaker. His catalogue bridges 1970s funk-soul and 1980s pop-R&B crossover, and while «Ghostbusters» remains his most famous work, his broader body of work as a guitarist, bandleader and producer marks him as an influential figure in funk and R&B of his era.