Chuck Mangione dies at 84; Grammy-winning jazz musician had huge hit with ‘Feels So Good’

By Andy Rose | CNN

Chuck Mangione, noted flugelhorn player, trumpeter and composer, has died. He was reportedly 84.

The news was confirmed via a press release out of a funeral home in Rochester, New York, on behalf of Mangione’s family, who said they were “deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his sleep at his home in Rochester” on Tuesday.

Mangione, a flugelhorn player whose composition “Feels So Good” became an unlikely pop hit in 1978, was a Rochester native who started playing jazz as a teenager.

He won two Grammy Awards over his 60-year career in music, including one for best instrumental composition for “Bellavia.”

“Feels So Good,” an upbeat instrumental whose full-length version runs nearly 10 minutes, spent 25 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #4 in 1978.

In addition to that signature hit, Mangione was recognizable for his distinctive style at the peak of his career, sporting long hair and a brown felt hat with a feathered band that he later donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

Outside of the music business, Mangione is remembered for his recurring appearances as a tongue-in-cheek version of himself on the primetime Fox animated series “King of the Hill.”

Check back for a more complete obituary.