Don't Worry, Be Happy Don't Worry, Be Happy "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a popular worldwide hit song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first "a cappella" song to reach number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. The Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba (1894–1969) often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy" when cabling his followers in the West. In the 1960s, the expression was printed up on inspirational cards and posters of the era. In 1988, McFerrin noticed a similar poster in the apartment of the jazz duo Tuck
Robert McFerrin York City and began receiving vocal coaching from Hall Johnson, the composer and choir director. McFerrin married Sara Copper, another aspiring singer, in 1949. The couple had two children, Robert Jr. (Bobby) and Brenda. In New York, McFerrin's singing career prospered. A 1949 appearance in a small role in the Kurt Weill Broadway musical, "Lost in the Stars", led to acquaintance with Boris Goldovsky. Goldovsky presented the baritone in the title role of "Rigoletto" at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 1949 and cast him in his company, the New England Opera Theater (later the Goldovsky Opera Theater) as Valentin in