Chuck Mangione

Chuck Mangione was born on November 29, 1940, in Rochester, New York, to Frank and Nancy (Bellavia) Mangione, Italian-American jazz fans who owned Mangione Grocery. His father played jazz records at home, took Chuck and his brother Gap to Sunday matinees at local clubs, and brought touring musicians home for dinner. Chuck began with piano lessons, then switched to trumpet after watching Young Man with a Horn. As a teenager he played in sessions with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and he later called Gillespie his "musical father."

He graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in Rochester and studied at the Eastman School of Music from 1958 to 1963, earning a bachelor's degree in music. At Eastman he first played the flugelhorn, for music written in the style of Miles Davis and Gil Evans. He later returned to Eastman to direct its jazz ensemble from 1968 to 1972, received the school's Alumni Achievement Award in 2007 and was given an honorary doctorate.

With Gap he co-led the Jazz Brothers, who recorded three albums for Riverside Records beginning in 1960. He played trumpet in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1960s and was a member of the National Gallery, which recorded an album of music inspired by Paul Klee in 1968. His 1970 concert recording Friends and Love with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra brought him a record deal and his first Grammy nomination. At A&M Records he released Chase the Clouds Away, Bellavia, Main Squeeze, Feels So Good, Children of Sanchez and Fun and Games. "Feels So Good" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. He composed "Give It All You Got" for the 1980 Winter Olympics and performed it at the closing ceremonies. He later recorded for Columbia and Chesky, released more than 30 albums in total, performed in Europe and Asia, and retired in 2015.

Mangione was married to Rosemarie, who died in 2015. They had two daughters, Nancy Mangione-Piraino and Diana Smith. He had grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and remained close to his brother Gap, a pianist and frequent collaborator, and his sister Josephine Shank. He lived in Rochester, was a lifelong New York Yankees fan and once worked out at the Yankees' spring training camp at the invitation of George Steinbrenner.

Mangione saw composing and playing as inseparable. In a 1972 interview he said he found it very difficult to compose when he was not playing. He embraced the success of "Feels So Good" rather than resenting it, saying in 2000 that he celebrated it every day because it put his daughters through college and introduced his music to the world. He cared deeply about music education and often performed with high school bands as his orchestra or invited children to bring their instruments on stage.

Mangione is widely credited with helping create the sound later called smooth jazz, bringing flugelhorn-led instrumental music into the pop charts. "Feels So Good" remains one of the best-known instrumentals of the 1970s and has long been a favorite in South Korea. His music became associated with the Olympics, with Rochester, and through King of the Hill with a younger audience. He was in the first class of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for "Bellavia" (1977). Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Children of Sanchez (1979). Golden Globe for the Children of Sanchez soundtrack. 14 Grammy nominations in total, including Record of the Year for "Feels So Good." Eastman School of Music Alumni Achievement Award (2007). Honorary doctorate from the Eastman School. Honored at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (2009). Inaugural inductee, Rochester Music Hall of Fame (2012).

Mangione voiced himself in a recurring role on the animated series King of the Hill as the celebrity spokesman for Mega Lo Mart, often playing "Feels So Good" at the least fitting moments. He also appeared in Magnum, P.I. and Sharon, Lois and Bram's Elephant Show, was the subject of the TV special Salute to Chuck Mangione hosted by Dick Clark, and was interviewed on The Tonight Show, Larry King, Soul Train and many other programs. WHAS-TV in Louisville used "Bellavia" as its school closings music from the Blizzard of 1978.

Chuck Mangione died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Rochester, New York, on July 22, 2025, at the age of 84. His family announced his death on July 24 through his official website and the Democrat and Chronicle. No other cause was given. The family held a private service and asked fans to remember him by listening to his music.