Gayles also backed various musicians, including Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Otis Rush, Albert King, and Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes.

Gayles learned to play the drums and toured with blues musicians Earl Hooker and Robert Nighthawk.

Gayles and Turner sang on the Cobra release "Walking Down The Aisle," the B-side to "Box Top."

In 1986 and 1987, Gayles toured Europe with several original members of the Kings of Rhythm, including Clayton Love, Erskine Oglesby, Stacy Johnson, Oliver Sain, and former Ikette Robbie Montgomery as part of the St. Louis Kings of Rhythm.

[8] After being hospitalized for three months at St. Louis Regional Medical Center, Gayles died from inoperable cancer at the age of 61 on April 8, 1993.