Sunny is a soul jazz standard written by American singer‑songwriter Bobby Hebb in 1963. It was released as the title track of his 1966 album Sunny, with the B-side Bread, and recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. Hebb wrote the song after his brother Harold was stabbed to death outside a Nashville nightclub, using the tune and its optimistic lyrics to express a preference for a sunny disposition during dark times. The sixteen‑bar chord progression, which modulates up a half step, became influential and has been echoed in many later songs. The single peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the R&B chart, and the tune has been covered by artists including Cher and Boney M.
