Bobby Hebb, who sang ‘Sunny’ in 1966, dies at 72

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Bobby Hebb, whose 1966 hit ‘Sunny’ about a smiling girl became a pop music classic, has died. He was 72.

Family members and a funeral home spokesman said Hebb died Tuesday morning at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. The cause of death was not announced.

At the height of ‘Sunny’s’ popularity, Hebb toured with the Beatles.

‘Sunny’ (heard on this YouTube clip) also was recorded by many other singers, including Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Jose Feliciano.

Hebb said in several interviews that he wrote ‘Sunny’ in response to the slaying of his brother outside a Nashville nightclub, and to the assassination a few days before of President John F. Kennedy.

As recently as 2007, he was still writing songs and had his own publishing company and record label, Hebb Cats.

-- Associated Press