Jim Gilstrap, the session vocalist best known for singing lead on Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and co-leading the theme song for the TV series Good Times, has died aged 79. He died of natural causes in Los Angeles on 18 July, closing out a career spanning more than five decades in which he became one of the music industry's most versatile and sought-after session singers.

Born in Texas on 10 November 1946, Gilstrap joined Stevie Wonder's backing band Wonderlove in the early 1970s, contributing to landmark albums including Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale. He also had two US R&B chart hits as a solo artist in 1975, "Swing Your Daddy" and "I'm on Fire", and lent his voice to recordings by artists including Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Quincy Jones. He was the last surviving of ten siblings and is survived by his wife Gloria, along with children and grandchildren; memorial arrangements are pending.