Background

Ray was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, United States. When Ray was an infant, his family moved from Albany, Georgia, where he was born, to the poor black community on the western side of Greenville, Florida. Ray was an only child of Bailey Robinson, a mechanic, and Aretha Williams, a sharecropper.

One of the most traumatic events of his childhood was witnessing the drowning death of his younger brother. Soon after his brother's death, Charles gradually began to lose his sight.

At age 10, his father died. At age 15, his mother passed away. Ray was an orphan. He was taken in by friends of his mother.

Education

Ray's mother sent him to a state-sponsored school, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida. There, he used Braille to read and write and compose music. He learned how to play the sax, trumpet, and clarinet while also furthering his talent on the piano and organ.

Charles was taught only classical music, but he wanted to play the jazz and blues he heard on the family radio. While at school, he became the school's premier musician.

On Fridays, the South Campus Literary Society held assemblies where Charles would play piano and sing popular songs. On Halloween and Washington's birthday, the Colored Department of the school had socials where Charles would play. It was here he established "RC Robinson and the Shop Boys."

Ray Charles was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Career

Ray Charles's musical curiosity was sparked at Mr. Wiley Pit's Red Wing Cafe when Pit played boogie-woogie on an old upright piano. Ray worked the register in the Bryants' store. He played with the Adderley brothers, Nat and Cannonball, and began playing gigs with Lawyer Smith and his Band in 1943 at the Red Bird Club and Deluxe Clubs in Frenchtown and roadhouse theaters around Tallahassee, as well as the Governor's Ball. For over a year, he played the piano for bands at the Ritz Theatre in LaVilla, earning $4 a night.

Then he moved to Orlando, and later Tampa, where he played with a southern band called The Florida Playboys. This is where he began his habit of always wearing sunglasses, made by designer Billy Stickles. He moved to Seattle in 1947 and soon started recording, first for the Down Beat label as the Maxin Trio with guitarist G.D. McKee and bassist Milton Garrett, achieving his first hit with 'Confession Blues' in 1949.

Influenced at first by the jazz and pop crooning of Nat "King" Cole, Charles began to develop his trademark vocal style in the early 1950s and formed his own band in 1954. His breakthrough recording, 'I've Got a Woman' (1955), turned a hymn tune into a rousing ode to sexuality. He further explored the marriage of the blues and the church in the hit singles 'Hallelujah, I Love Her So' (1956) and 'What'd I Say' (1959), a rhythm-and-blues classic in which Charles and his backing group, the Raeletts, trade groans, and sighs over a propulsive riff.

While eagerly expanding his musical horizons, Charles also recorded more traditional jazz, blues, and ballads. One of those ballads, the heartfelt 'Georgia on My Mind' (1960), became his first number-one hit on the Billboard pop chart; his version won two Grammy awards and in 1979 was named Georgia's official state song. His second top-selling single, 'Hit the Road Jack' (1961), also won a Grammy. In his third chart-topper, 'I Can't Stop Loving You' (1962), yet another Grammy winner, he transformed a country ballad by adding strings, backup singers, and his own tasteful pop-soul vocal. His album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, also released in 1962, earned a gold record - selling more than 500,000 copies - and claimed the top spot on the Billboard album chart for 14 weeks.

From 1963 to 1968, he released a string of albums that were not as successful due to the advent of psychedelic rock, which decreased his appeal. These included 'Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul,' 'Sweet & Sour Tears,' 'Have a Smile with Me,' 'Crying Time,' 'Ray's Moods,' and 'A Portrait of Ray.' Nonetheless, he actively continued to record songs and released the 1972 album, 'Message from the People,'' which included the hit, 'America the Beautiful.' Two years later, he left ABC Records.

Charles re-signed to Atlantic Records in 1977 and recorded, 'True to Life.' The same year, he appeared in an episode of 'Saturday Night Live.' Two years later 'Georgia on My Mind' was proclaimed the song of Georgia.

In 1980, he appeared in the film, 'The Blues Brothers.' Three years later, he signed a record deal with Columbia Records and began to record a string of country hits with musicians like B.J. Thomas, George Jones, and Chet Atkins. In 1984, Ray recorded the single 'Seven Spanish Angels' which would go on to become his most popular country single. The next year, he was seen performing at Ronald Reagan's second inauguration.

An active supporter of the civil rights movement and other humanitarian causes, he had a prominent role in the United States for Africa's anthem "We Are the World" (1985). In 1986 he was named both as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a Kennedy Center honoree. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. He was seen in four episodes of the popular TV series, 'The Nanny' from 1997 to 1998. In the new millennium, he appeared in a number of commercials for the 'New Jersey Lottery.'

In 2002, he released the album, 'Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again,' followed by 'Ray Charles Celebrates a Gospel Christmas with the Voices of Jubilation' and 'Live at Olympia 2000,' two years later. Charles made his last public appearance during the dedication of his music atelier as a significant landmark in Los Angeles on April 30, 2004.

Achievements

• 

  Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to create hits like 'Unchain My Heart,' 'Hit the Road Jack' and 'Georgia on My Mind.' A blind genius, he is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.
  
  Charles won several Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records.
  
  He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.
  
  Charles was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1979. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 16, 1981, and was inducted and the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982. He was awarded the Polar Music Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Award, in 1998.

Works

More photos

• music

  • The Great Ray Charles 1957
  • Soul Brothers/Soul Meeting 1958
  • Yes Indeed! 1958
  • Ray Charles At Newport 1959
  • What'd I Say 1959
  • The Genius Of Ray Charles 1959
  • Ray Charles In Person 1960
  • The Genius Sings the Blues 1961
  • The Genius After Hours 1961
  • Dedicated To You 1961
  • Genious + Soul = Jazz 1961
  • Ray Charles & Betty Carter 1961
  • Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music 1962
  • Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul 1963
  • Sweet and Sour Tears 1964
  • Together Again 1965
  • Crying Time 1966
  • Invites You To Listen 1967
  • A Portrait of Ray 1968
  • I'm All Yours Baby 1969
  • Doing His Thing 1969
  • My Kind of Jazz 1970
  • Message From the People 1972
  • Ray Charles: Jazz Number II 1973
  • Come Live With Me 1974
  • Porgy & Bess 1976
  • True to Life 1977
  • Love & Peace 1978
  • Ain't It So 1979
  • Brother Ray Is At It Again! 1980
  • Wish You Were Here Tonight 1983
  • Friendship 1984
  • Spirit of Christmas 1985
  • From The Pages Of My Mind 1986
  • Would You Believe 1990
  • Strong Love Affair 1996
  • Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again 2002
  • Genius Loves Company 2004
  • Gospel Christmas with the Voices of Jubilation! 2004
  • Live at the Olympia 2000 2004

Religion

Charles was raised in a strict Baptist home under the religious wing of his mother, Aretha. Church, like so many of the great musicians in the early days of rock 'n' roll, was where Ray was first exposed to music - particularly the gospel, blues and jazz that defined his sound. He seems to have been a spiritual man in his own way. Of the soul, he said:

"I'm a firm believer in God himself, but that’s as far as I can go. I’m not any denomination. I'm not Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist or Jewish or Muslim. I'm none of those things. And I’m sure that's just fine with God."

Politics

Officially, Charles referred to himself as a "Hubert Humphrey Democrat," meaning he considered himself slightly left-of-center. But he didn’t mind playing for Republicans, Ray performed at Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985. Also he performed at Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993.

Views

Charles is often associated with the civil rights movement and considered a champion of social justice. Much of this conception comes from the fact that Charles refused to play clubs that practiced racial segregation - most notably in the state of his birth, Georgia, which subsequently “banned him for life.” However, Georgia issued an official apology to Charles in 1977 and made his song, "Georgia on My Mind" the official state song.

Quotations: "I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style required pure heart singing."

"The soul is when you take a song and make it a part of you - a part that's so true, so real, people think it must have happened to you. It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, do we? But it's a force that can light a room. The soul is like electricity, like a spirit, a drive, a power."

"Music has been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but the music's the main meal."

"I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat 'King' Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchly, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it."

"I am very into lyrics. I start with what the words are saying, what the storyline is saying, like a good script. It should really capture me, do something for me. If I don't get it, it's not going to move people, and if it's not going to move people, it's not going to happen. I don't think I'm good because I'm blind, I think I'm good because I'm good."

Personality

Ray was an admirer of singer Nat 'King' Cole and even imitated his style in his early performances, which guaranteed him continued work before perfecting his own style.

Ray Charles Robinson dropped his last name to avoid confusion with the boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson.

Charles soon earned the nickname 'The Genius' for his ability to blend multiple styles. He was also known as the 'Father of Soul.'

Charles enjoyed playing chess, using a special board with raised squares and holes for the pieces.

In the mid-1960s, following a drug arrest, Charles acknowledged that he had been using heroin since his teens. After a year spent kicking the habit, he resumed the life of a touring musician. Respected by critics, increasingly renowned through recordings, concert and nightclub appearances, and commercial endorsements, he was no longer a musical innovator, but he retained his popularity and influence well into the 1990s.

Physical Characteristics: By the age of 5, Ray started to lose his sight. He had developed glaucoma and was blind by the age of 7.

Quotes from others about the person

• Sinatra, and Bing Crosby before him, had been masters of words. Ray Charles is a master of sounds. His records disclose an extraordinary assortment of slurs, glides, turns, shrieks, wails, breaks, shouts, screams and hollers, all wonderfully controlled, disciplined by inspired musicianship, and harnessed to ingenious subtleties of harmony, dynamics, and rhythm... It is either the singing of a man whose vocabulary is inadequate to express what is in his heart and mind or of one whose feelings are too intense for satisfactory verbal or conventionally melodic articulation. He can't tell it to you. He can't even sing it to you. He has to cry out to you or shout to you, in tones eloquent of despair- or exaltation. The voice alone, with little assistance from the text or the notated music, conveys the message." - Henry Pleasants
  
  "Ray Charles's version of 'America the Beautiful' will always be in my view the most patriotic piece of music ever performed - because it captures the fullness of the American experience, the view from the bottom as well as the top, the good and the bad, and the possibility of synthesis, reconciliation, transcendence." - Barak Obama

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Playing chess

• Music & Bands

  Soul music, gospel, pop, R&B, country music, Nat 'King' Cole, Charles Brown

Connections

Ray had a very complicated private life. He was known to be a womanizer. Ray was married two times and had twelve children with nine different women. His first marriage was to Eileen Williams, and it was very brief.

His second marriage was to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, and they had three children. His other nine children were with paramours Louise Mitchell, Marge Hendricks, Sandra Jean Betts, Chantelle Bertrand, Arlette Kotchounian, Gloria Moffett, and Mary Anne den Bok; the mother of one child remains unknown.

His girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.

Father:

Bailey Robinson

Mother:

Aretha Robinson

ex-wife:

Eileen Ramona Williams Pettigrew

ex-wife:

Della Beatrice Howard Robinson

Son:

Ray Charles Robinson Jr.

Son:

David Robinson

Son:

Charles Wayne Hendricks

Daughter:

Reatha Butler

Daughter:

Alexandra Bertrand

Daughter:

Robyn Moffett

Daughter:

Evelyn Robinson

Daughter:

Raenee Robinson

Daughter:

Sheila Robinson

Son:

Vincent Kotchounian

Son:

Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok

Friend:

Stevie Wonder

girlfriend:

Norma Pinella

Friend:

Martin King

Ray was a friend and financial backer of Dr. Martin Luther King.

colleague:

Aretha Franklin

colleague:

Billy Joel

colleague:

Merry Clayton

References

• Ray Charles: Man and Music
  1998
• Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story
  1978
• Ray Charles
  2001
• Ray Charles - Official Website