Roy Ayers was a pioneer in jazz-funk who became big in the early 1970s. He founded the group Ubiquity, whose most famous song is "Everybody loves the sunshine" from 1973. He also wrote the film music for the blaxploitation film "Coffy" the same year, starring Pam Grier in the lead role.
Later, Ayers' music became current again when it was sampled by pioneering artists such as Mary J Blige, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye West. Many of the new generation's soul artists saw him as a role model and he collaborated on record with, among others, Erykah Badu and Tyler The Creator.
Roy Ayers was born in Los Angeles and became interested in starting to play the vibraphone after seeing Lionel Hampton in a concert as a child. After playing with jazz flutist Herbie Mann in the 1960s, Roy Ayers got his breakthrough in his own name.
