Chuck Mangione, a prolific composer and musician who released 30 albums in his career, died July 22, a statement from his family confirmed. He was 84.
"The family of Chuck Mangione is deeply saddened to share that Chuck peacefully passed away in his sleep at his home in Rochester, New York, on July 22, 2025," said the statement, shared July 24 with the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network.
A celebrated composer and virtuoso flugelhorn and trumpet player, Mangione began taking music lessons at age 8 and played in a jazz combo with his pianist brother, Gap, during his high school years.
He and Gap were both heavily inspired by Dizzy Gillespie, a family friend and jazz great, whom their father adored. Gillespie would join the Mangiones for dinner whenever he was in town and became one of Mangione’s biggest influences.
Gillespie was so impressed by teenage Mangione's musical prowess that he gave him one of his trademark upswept trumpets.
