Jimmy and his band are most remembered for their iconic, singalong hit "Gloria" ... which was a top 10 hit in 1966. Not to be confused with Laura Branigan's 80s hit of the same name, Jimmy and co.'s famous chorus spelled out the name ... G-L-O-R-I-A.

The Illinois band had announced earlier this week that Jimmy was hospitalized after suffering a stroke -- but on Friday his daughter announced he had passed.

Jimmy and a friend still ran the band's social media pages ... posting old pics from The Shadows of Knight's heyday.

Sohns was still a teenager when his band struck gold with "Gloria." He and his bandmates were all high school pals in suburban Chicago, and got together to play their version of British blues ... a la The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds.

The surviving members were still doing live shows together as recently as 2016.

Jimmy was 75.