Roy Ayers to receive SoulTracks Lifetime Achievement Award

Roy Ayers, one of the seminal artists of the past century who has helped define both R&B and jazz, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming SoulTracks Readers' Choice Awards, on Monday, December 7th.

Read more about this year's SoulTracks Readers' Choice Awards

Roy Edward Ayers, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, CA on September, 10 1940. He came by his affinity with music naturally, as his mother Ruby Ayers was a schoolteacher and local piano instructor and his father Roy Sr., a sometimes-parking attendant and trombonist. As it often happens in a household filled with the love and the appreciation which for music, Roy began to demonstrate his musical aptitude by the tender age of five, by which time he was playing boogie woogie tunes on the piano. He turned to the steel guitar by the age of nice, had stints during his teens playing flute, trumpet and drums before embracing the vibes as his instrument of choice. 

Perhaps Roy’s karmic destiny as a vibraphonist was by his parents’ decision to allow him attend a concert featuring the great Lionel Hampton’s Big Band. During “Hamps” customary stroll down the aisle to thank you his audience for attending, he noticed and ecstatic five-year-old boy. So impressed was "Hamp" by the child’s ebullience he walked over and presented young Roy Ayers Jr. with the gift of a lifetime- a pair of vibe mallets. During Roy’s adolescence, although his parents required that his schoolwork remain his primary focus, his mother managed to fit in piano lessons, which served to enhance his public school education. In addition to Roy’s involvement with various instruments, he also sang in the church choir. Then, at seventeen years of age his parents presented him with a set of vibes and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Now in his fourth decade in the music business, Ayers, known as the Godfather of Neo-soul, continues to bridge the gap between generations of music lovers. In the 60’s he was an award-winning jazz vibraphonist, and transformed into a popular R&B band leader in the 70's/80's. Today, the dynamic music man is an iconic figure still in great demand and whose music industry heavyweights, including Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac and Ice Cube. 

We are looking forward to honoring Mr. Ayers on December 7th!