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 Motown recording artist. The three sang in 1987 at a benefit concert for the McFerrin Endowment for Minority Artist at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Although McFerrin sustained a stroke in 1989 which affected his speech, he remained able to sing. In 1993 he appeared with his son and the St. Louis Symphony; Bobby conducted and McFerrin senior sang. He married his second wife, Athena Bush, in 1995. McFerrin was twice awarded honorary doctorates: in 1987 from Stowe Teacher's College, St. Louis, and in 1989 from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In 2003 Opera America, in conjunction with the Association of