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Jazz great Chuck Mangione, remembered for his worldwide hit “Feels So Good,” has died at 84.
The legendary trumpet player died July 22, The Democrat & Chronicle confirmed.
His family announced they are “deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his sleep at his home in Rochester.”
Born November 29, 1940, in Rochester, New York, he played in the Mangione Brothers Sextet and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messenger in the ’60s. He also began his career as a composer.
He went on to be an integral part of the National Gallery, the Eastman jazz ensemble, and to record solo albums for decades, earning 14 Grammy nominations and winning twice.
Among his most famous works were “Chase the Clouds Away” for the 1976 Summer Olympics, “Give It All You Got” for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games, his Grammy-winning soundtrack for “The Children of Sanchez” (1978), and the theme for the Burt Reynolds-driven box-office sensation “The Cannonball Run” (1981).
His 1977 album “Feels So Good” spawned the title single, an instrumental that achieved no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year at the height of the Disco Era.
It became one of the most familiar tunes of all time.
Later in his career, he played a twisted version of himself on “King of the Hill” (1997-2003), and in 2000 included the song “Peggy Hill” in honor of his work on the animated hit.
He also acted on episodes of “Magnum, P.I.” (1984) and “Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Elephant Show” (1988).
His iconic brown, feathered hat is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Mangione’s family urges the public to remember him for his “boundless energy, unabashed enthusiasm, and pure joy that radiated from the stage.”
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