Jerry Hey

Jerry Hey
Background information
Born
Jerome Richard Hey

(1950-03-28) March 28, 1950 (age 76)
Dixon, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • bandleader
Instruments
Years active1960s–present
Formerly of

Jerome Richard Hey (born March 28, 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, arranger (horns and strings), orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's Thriller, "Rock with You", "Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough", "Workin’ Day and Night" and the flugelhorn solo on Dan Fogelberg's hit "Longer". He has performed with artists such as George Benson, Nik Kershaw, Al Jarreau, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, George Duke, Lionel Richie, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, Toshiki Kadomatsu, and Yumi Matsutoya.

He is known as the trumpeter and arranger for Seawind, whose other members have included Gary Grant, Larry Williams and Bill Reichenbach Jr.

Biography

Jerome Richard Hey was born on March 28, 1950 in Dixon, Illinois, to a family of musicians. His mother was a pianist and his father was a trombonist; two older brothers played trombone and tuba. After completing high school, Hey attended the National Music Camp for two summers. While in college, Hey studied under Bill Adam at Indiana University.

Hey then relocated to Hawaii to become a member of the band Seawind.

In 1976, Hey moved to Los Angeles with Seawind, which then recorded two albums for CTI Records under the direction of Harvey Mason.

Gary Grant, who had already been in the city for a year when Hey arrived and was a well-known session player, invited Hey to join him on recording sessions, which helped to launch his career as a studio musician.

Soon after arriving in LA, Quincy Jones got in touch with Hey to ask him to play and arrange for Jones's album I Heard That!!. Following that session, Hey and his associates were invited to perform on every one of Quincy's recordings. Hey later worked as a musician and arranger with David Foster.

Hey is the uncle of American keyboardist, songwriter, producer, arranger and musical director Henry Hey.

He composed and arranged the song "Jedi Rocks" for the 1997 Special Edition re-release of Return of the Jedi. He co-produced four songs on Lisa Stansfield's 2014 album Seven.

Hey has received 6 Grammy Awards and 11 nominations.

Awards

Grammy Awards

Source:

Discography

With Earth, Wind & Fire

With Billy Crystal & Christopher Guest

With The Brothers Johnson

With Luis Miguel

With Lalo Schifrin

With Aretha Franklin

With Elton John

With Olivia Newton-John

With Bob Seger

With Kenny Rogers

With Syreeta Wright

With Joe Cocker

With Cher

With Dionne Warwick

With Cheryl Lynn

With Celine Dion

With Jon Anderson

With Patti LaBelle

With Shelby Lynne

With Thelma Houston

With Selena

With Barry Manilow

With Taylor Dayne

With Patti Austin

With Michael Bolton

With Jeffrey Osborne

With Lisa Stansfield

With Anita Baker

With Stevie Nicks

With Christopher Cross

With Dan Fogelberg

With Tanya Tucker

With David Crosby

With Kenny Loggins

With Minnie Riperton

With Steve Cropper

With Brenda Russell

With Stephanie Mills

With Joni Mitchell

With Melissa Manchester

With Jim Messina

With Deniece Williams

With Teena Marie

With Peter Allen

With Beth Hart

With Donna Summer

With Paul Anka

With Chaka Khan

With Barry Mann

With Melanie C

With Sheena Easton

With John Mayer

With Dolly Parton

With Boz Scaggs

With Randy Crawford

With Rickie Lee Jones

With Carole Bayer Sager

With Paul McCartney

With Michael McDonald

With Michael Jackson

With Desmond Child

With Betty Wright

With Roberta Flack

With Richard Marx

With Mika

With Philip Bailey

With Rod Stewart

With Randy Newman

With Natalie Cole

With B.B. King

With Peter Cetera

With Nicolette Larson

With Barbra Streisand

With Jennifer Warnes

With Rob Thomas

With Laura Branigan

With Jimmy Webb

With Al Jarreau

With Jennifer Holliday

With James Last Band

With George Benson

With Livingston Taylor

With Neil Diamond

With Michael Franks

With Atkins

With Darren Kramer Organization

With Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

With Toto (band)

With Miho Nakayama

With Pauline Wilson

With The Square/T-SQUARE

With Dave Weckl/Dave Weckl Band

With David Foster

With Wilson Phillips

With TM Network

With KC and the Sunshine Band

With Pleasure

With Patrice Rushen

Soundtracks

As sideman on soundtrack recordings

References

  1. ↑ "Jerry Hey Discography". Discogs. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Jerry Hey | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. ↑ Owsinski, Bobby; Ill, Paul (August 1, 2009). The Studio Musician's Handbook. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 247–248. ISBN 978-1-4234-6341-2. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  4. ↑ jacobtrumpet (December 5, 2013). "Jerry Hey". Jacob Phillips. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Interview: Jerry Hey, Pop Music's Go-Go Man for Horn and String Arrangements". daily.redbullmusicacademy.com. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Davis, Michael (April 1, 2012). "Jerry Hey". Hip-Bone Music. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Splett, Thomas (March 8, 2019). "Interview with the legendary American trumpeter and arranger Jerry Hey –". Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ Davis, Michael (April 1, 2012). "Jerry Hey". Hip-Bone Music. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Jerry Hey". World Trumpet Society. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Awards". David Foster. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Jerry Hey". GRAMMY.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Artist: Jerry Hey". www.grammy.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Jerry Hey". IMDb. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jerry Hey Biography". HeyHorns.com. December 17, 2001. Archived from the original on December 17, 2001.
  15. ↑ Meeker, David (2019). Jazz on the screen: A Jazz and Blues Filmography (PDF).