Life & recordssourced, not exhaustive

Timeline

1. 1950

   Born March 11 in New York; raised in Los Angeles, the son of opera baritone Robert McFerrin Sr. and soprano Sara Copper McFerrin.^10,7

2. 1977

   July 11: decides to become a singer, with a vision of performing alone on stage, improvising with only his voice.⁷

3. 1980

   Tours with the jazz singer Jon Hendricks.¹³

4. 1982

   Debut album, Bobby McFerrin.^7,13

5. 1983

   First solo tour, of German concert halls; his second album, The Voice, is recorded on it with no overdubbing.⁷

6. 1988

   “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” opens his a cappella album Simple Pleasures and tops charts around the world.⁷

7. 1989

   At the 31st GRAMMY Awards, wins Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”¹²

8. 1990

   Conducts the San Francisco Symphony in Beethoven’s Seventh on his 40th birthday, the start of a conducting career.⁷

9. 1992

   Hush, a duo album with Yo-Yo Ma.^8,7

10. 2002

    May 23: gives the address at the Peabody Conservatory diploma ceremony and receives the George Peabody Medal. I was in the graduating class.^1,3

11. 2009

    June 12: the pentatonic demonstration at the World Science Festival in New York.¹⁶

12. 2005

    Try This at Home released on DVD by EuroArts.^20,19

13. 2010

    VOCAbuLarieS, with Roger Treece; later a GRAMMY nominee for Best Classical Crossover Album.^8,24,12

14. 2010

    June 5: improvises with 60,000 choral singers at Day of Song, Veltins Arena.¹⁸

15. 2020

    Named an NEA Jazz Master.^10,11

16. 2023

    Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.^13,9