Bobby Hebb was born in Nashville in 1938. His parents were both blind musicians and
assembled a street-performing family washboard band with his brother Harold when he
and Bobby were children. Bobby sang and played guitar and trumpet, which he learned
during his service in the Navy. His musical performing talents led him in the 1950s to play
with Bo Diddley, as well as singing with the doo-wop group, the Hi-Fis.
Bobby Hebb's timeless crossover hit "Sunny" (1966) is one of the most covered modern
American standards in history (classic versions include James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Wilson
Pickett, and Toots & the Maytals). ""Sunny” is a tune that immediately brings a smile to the
face - instantly recognizable and impossible not to sing along to. The tune has generated
more than 7 million performances, making it one of BMI’s most performed songs of the
20th Century." BMI proclaims the tune as "a bonafide entry into the great American
Songbook".