{"id":3893,"date":"2026-07-20T04:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T04:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2026-07-20T04:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T04:36:42","slug":"jim-gilstrap-singer-on-good-times-theme-and-stevie-wonders-you-are-the-sunshine-of-my-life-dies-at-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893","title":{"rendered":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tJames \u201cJim\u201d Gilstrap, a singer whose credits include the Good Times<\/em> theme song and Stevie Wonder\u2018s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d has died. He was 79.<\/p>\n

Read more Stephen Chow\u2019s \u2018Kung Fu Soccer\u2019 Blasts Past $200 Million at China Box Office<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tGilstrap\u2019s nephew and family spokesperson, Geoffrey \u201cGeoff Gil\u201d Gilstrap, said he died Saturday from natural causes.<\/p>\n

\n\tGilstrap sang the song for Good Times, <\/em>which ran from 1974-79, with Blinky Williams. The catchy, gospel-tinged tune (\u201cKeepin\u2019 your head above water\/Making a wave when you can\u201d) was composed by\u00a0Dave Grusin\u00a0with lyrics by\u00a0Alan and Marilyn Bergman.<\/p>\n

\n\tGilstrap was a featured vocalist with Stevie Wonder\u2019s Wonderlove and contributed to many of the singer\u2019s recordings. He sang the first two lines of Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life\u201d (\u201cYou are the sunshine of my life\/That\u2019s why I\u2019ll always be around\u201d). Singer Lani Groves sang the next two lines (\u201cYou are the apple of my eye\/Forever you\u2019ll stay in my heart\u201d) before Wonder\u2019s vocals kick in, with Gilstrap and Groves continuing to sing backup. The song, from Wonder\u2019s 1972 album Talking Book<\/em>, won the Grammy Award for best male pop vocal performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tGilstrap also worked on Wonder\u2019s albums Wonderlove<\/em> and Innervisions<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 1975, he signed a recording contract with Chelsea Records and released a single, \u201cSwing Your Daddy\u201d that reached No. 4 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 10 on the\u00a0 U.S. Billboard Black Singles chart. The song peaked at No. 64 in Australia. He released an album, Love Talk,<\/em> in 1976.<\/p>\n

Read more Jason Sudeikis Brings Ted Lasso to World Cup Halftime Show to Hype Up Justin Bieber<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout his career, Gilstrap also collaborated with Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker,\u00a0 Whitney Houston, James Ingram, George Benson, Bill Withers, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Teddy Pendergrass, Stanley Clarke, Boz Scaggs and others.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJim was one of the most respected session vocalists of his generation, bringing his powerful and soulful voice to countless recordings that helped define the sound of popular music,\u201d his nephew said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn Nov. 10, 1946, Gilstrap was the last surviving member of a family of 10 siblings. He is survived by his wife, Gloria, and his children.<\/p>\n

Read more World Cup Final: Spain Defeats Argentina to Take Second-Ever Win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James "Jim" Gilstrap, a singer whose credits include the Good Times theme song and Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," has died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39,1035],"class_list":["post-3893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-obituaries","tag-stevie-wonder"],"yoast_head":"\nJim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"James "Jim" Gilstrap, a singer whose credits include the Good Times theme song and Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," has died.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893\"},\"wordCount\":411,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Obituaries\",\"Stevie Wonder\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893\",\"name\":\"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp\",\"width\":1296,\"height\":730},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=3893#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Property Moves\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves","og_description":"James "Jim" Gilstrap, a singer whose credits include the Good Times theme song and Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," has died.","og_url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893","og_site_name":"US Property Moves","article_published_time":"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"headline":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79","datePublished":"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893"},"wordCount":411,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp","keywords":["Obituaries","Stevie Wonder"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893","name":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79 - US Property Moves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-20T04:36:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9f2bb46fdd044238e573806d92634361.webp","width":1296,"height":730},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3893#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jim Gilstrap, Singer on \u2018Good Times\u2019 Theme and Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cYou Are the Sunshine of My Life,\u201d Dies at 79"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/","name":"US Property Moves","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/uspropertymoves.com"],"url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}