Grammy-winning jazz legend Chuck Mangione dies at 84

Chuck Mangione, the Grammy-winning flugelhornist behind the smooth jazz classic Feels So Good, has died at 84. The musician passed away peacefully in his sleep at home on Tuesday, according to a funeral home in his hometown of Rochester, New York.

Mangione’s career spanned more than three decades and 30 albums, earning him 14 Grammy nominations and two wins. His chart-topping hit Feels So Good became a pop-jazz crossover staple in 1978, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and landing a Grammy nod for Record of the Year.

That breakout success led to major commissions, including Give It All You Got, the official theme for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. It wasn’t his first Olympic moment—his 1975 track Chase the Clouds Away was featured during the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal.

Born in Rochester on November 29, 1940, Mangione picked up music early, starting with piano lessons at age 8 before switching to brass after watching Young Man With a Horn. By high school, he had formed a jazz band with his brother, pianist Gap Mangione.

He graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1963 and returned there later as a teacher and director of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble.

His solo career kicked off with the 1970 live recording Friends & Love... A Chuck Mangione Concert, which earned a Grammy nomination and put him on the Billboard map with the single Hill Where the Lord Hides.

Mangione’s 1976 album Bellavia brought home his first Grammy. Two years later, he grabbed a second for The Children of Sanchez, which also scored him a Golden Globe nomination.

Fans of King of the Hill might also remember Mangione’s animated alter ego, popping up regularly in the long-running series with his trademark smile and horn in hand.

Mangione’s distinctive sound helped bring jazz to mainstream radio, and kept it there for a generation.