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
A cappella to a cappella performances. The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performances in the 1960s. Frank Zappa loves Doo wop and A cappella, so Zappa released The Persuasions' first album from his label in 1970. In 1983, an a cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of Yazoo's (known in the US as Yaz) "Only You". A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin,