Bobby Hebb - wikipedia Bobby Hebb This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2010 ) Bobby Hebb Bobby Hebb in 1966 Background information Birth name Robert Von Hebb ( 1938 - 07 - 26 ) July 26, 1938 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. August 3, 2010 ( 2010 - 08 - 03 ) ( aged 72 ) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. Occupation ( s ) Singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, performer Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar Years active 1955 ‒ 2010 Labels Cadet, Crystal Ball, Epic, Laurie, Mercury, Philips, Scepter, Tuition Robert Von `` Bobby '' Hebb ( July 26, 1938 ‒ August 3, 2010 ) was an American R&B / soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer known for his 1966 hit entitled `` Sunny ''. Contents 1 Biography 2 Biography film 3 Death 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External links Biography Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His parents, William and Ovalla Hebb, were both blind musicians. Hebb and older brother, Harold Hebb, performed as a song - and - dance team in Nashville beginning when Bobby was three and Harold was nine. Hebb performed on a TV show hosted by country music record producer Owen Bradley, which earned him a place with Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff. Hebb played spoons and other instruments in Acuff 's band. Harold later became a member of Johnny Bragg and the Marigolds. Bobby Hebb sang backup on Bo Diddley 's `` Diddley Daddy ''. Hebb played `` West - coast - style '' trumpet in a United States Navy jazz band, and replaced Mickey Baker in Mickey and Sylvia. On November 23, 1963, the day after John F. Kennedy 's assassination, Bobby Hebb 's brother, Harold, was killed in a knife fight outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by both events and sought comfort in songwriting. Though many claim that the song he wrote after both tragedies was the optimistic `` Sunny '', Hebb himself stated otherwise. He immersed himself in the Gerald Wilson album, You Better Believe It !, for comfort. All my intentions were just to think of happier times -- basically looking for a brighter day -- because times were at a low tide. After I wrote it, I thought `` Sunny '' just might be a different approach to what Johnny Bragg was talking about in `` Just Walkin ' in the Rain ''. `` Sunny '' was recorded in New York City after demos were made with the record producer Jerry Ross. Released as a single in 1966, `` Sunny '' reached No. 3 on the R&B charts, No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 12 in the United Kingdom. When Hebb toured with The Beatles in 1966 his `` Sunny '' was, at the time of the tour, ranked higher than any Beatles song then on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. BMI rated `` Sunny '' number 25 in its `` Top 100 songs of the century ''. In 1976, Hebb released a newly recorded disco version entitled `` Sunny ' 76 ''. The single was a minor hit reaching No. 94 on the R&B chart. Hebb also had lesser hits with his `` A Satisfied Mind '' in 1966 ( No. 39 on the Billboard chart and No. 40 on the R&B chart ) and `` Love Me '' in 1967 ( No. 84 ), and wrote many other songs, including Lou Rawls ' 1971 hit `` A Natural Man '' ( co-written with comedian Sandy Baron ). Six years prior to `` Sunny '', Hebb reached the New York City Top 50 with a remake of Roy Acuff 's `` Night Train to Memphis ''. In 1972, his single `` Love Love Love '' reached No. 32 on the UK charts. After a recording gap of 35 years, Hebb recorded That 's All I Wanna Know, his first commercial release since Love Games for Epic Records in 1970. It was released in Europe in late 2005 by Tuition, a pop indie label. Two new duet versions of `` Sunny '' were issued, one with Astrid North and the other with Pat Appleton. In October 2008, he toured and played in Osaka and Tokyo in Japan. Biography film Ipanema Films of Germany was involved in a biographical film which included Hebb, his biographer Joseph Tortelli, and Billy Cox. Death Hebb continued to live in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, until his death in 2010, at age 72. On August 3, 2010, Hebb died from lung cancer while being treated at TriStar Centennial Medical Center located in Nashville. '' He is interred at Nashville 's Spring Hill Cemetery. References Jump up ^ `` Умер автор песни `` Sunny '' : Культура ``. Lenta.ru. Retrieved 2015 - 08 - 19. ^ Jump up to : Murrells, Joseph ( 1978 ). The Book of Golden Discs ( 2nd ed. ). London : Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 205. ISBN 0 - 214 - 20512 - 6. ^ Jump up to : Whitburn, Joel ( 2003 ). Top Pop Singles 1955 -- 2002 ( 1st ed. ). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin : Record Research Inc. p. 309. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 155 - 1. ^ Jump up to : Betts, Graham ( 2004 ). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952 -- 2004 ( 1st ed. ). London : Collins. p. 350. ISBN 0 - 00 - 717931 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Bobby Hebb, singer of 1966 hit `` Sunny '', dies at 72 ``. Associated Press story. MSNBC. August 3, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Bobby Hebb buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee ''. findagrave.com. Retrieved January 8, 2014. Bibliography Cooper, Daniel ( 1998 ). `` Bobby Hebb ''. In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York : Oxford University Press. p. 235, ISBN 978 - 0195176087 External links Official website Bobby Hebb at AllMusic Bobby Hebb discography at Discogs Bobby Hebb interview on Nashville Scene That 's All I Wanna Know on Tuition Records, Germany Bobby Hebb at Find a Grave BNE : XX975725 BNF : cb139532818 ( data ) GND : 13440095X ISNI : 0000 0000 8159 7793 LCCN : n94061327 MusicBrainz : d21d85ff - c0d5 - 4c50 - a1be - 93438e5d7c60 SNAC : w6ht5t3x VIAF : 79607573 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Hebb&oldid=835161142 '' Categories : 1938 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee African - American singer - songwriters African - American songwriters American singer - songwriters American male singers American singers Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Deaths from lung cancer Singers from Nashville, Tennessee Smash Records artists Philips Records artists Burials in Tennessee Songwriters from Tennessee Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from January 2015 Articles needing additional references from August 2010 All articles needing additional references Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2010 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2013 Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano Lietuvių Nederlands 日本 語 Português Svenska 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 6 April 2018, at 22 : 57 ( UTC ). 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Question: who sang the song sunny in the 70s
Answer: Robert Von "Bobby" Hebb