Ray Parker Jnr
- Born Ray Erskine in Detroit on 1 May 1954
- He is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer.
- At school his music teacher inspired him to be a musician at the age of six by playing the clarinet.
- He recorded and co-wrote his first songs at age 16 with Marvin Gaye
- He played in a nightclub house band where The Detroit Spinners, were so impressed by his guitar playing skills that they added him to their touring group
- In 1977, he created the R&B group Raydio and scored his first big hit with Jack and Jill
- He was a guest guitarist on Stevie Wonder’s album Talking Book,
- He was a session musician for Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra.
- He has also written songs and and done session work for the Carpenters, Rufus and Chaka Khan, the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Deniece Williams, Bill Withers, the Temptations, Boz Scaggs, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Herbie Hancock, Tina Turner, and Diana Ross.
- He started his solo career in 1981, scoring eight Top 40 hits, writing and performing the theme song to the 1984 film Ghostbusters
- Huey Lewis sued him, stating that the melody to Ghostbusters infringed on the copyright of his song I Want a New Drug ( + yes, it does sound very similar!)
- Ghostbusters earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and even today remains one of the most recognizable movie themes of all time.
- In 2022, he competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as “Sir Bug a Boo”.
- His hits include: “I Don’t Think That Man Should Sleep Alone”, “Jack and Jill” and “Ghostbusters”,