Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was an American jazz composer, pianist, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career.
Is Ramsey Lewis still playing?
Renowned jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, whose music entertained fans over a more than 60-year career that began with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and made him one of the country’s most successful jazz musicians, has died. He was 87.
Lewis is revered in jazz circles for 1960s hits like “The ‘In’ Crowd,” “Hang on Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water.” He earned three Grammy awards and seven gold records. The trio’s first record in 1956 was “Ramsey Lewis and the Gentlemen of Swing.”
Lewis died Monday in his sleep at his Chicago home, according to his son, Bobby Lewis. “He was just at peace,” Bobby Lewis told The Associated Press on Monday night. “Most people say when they met dad that he was a class act. He was that way even through his last breath.”