Ray Charles Biography

originally Ray Charles Robinson

(1930-2004)

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  • 1957 Hallelujah, I Love Her So
  • 1957 The Great Ray Charles
  • 1958 Soul Brothers (with Milt Jackson)
  • 1958 Ray Charles At Newport
  • 1959 Yes Indeed
  • 1959 Ray Charles
  • 1959 The Fabulous Ray Charles
  • Albums
  • 1959 What'd I Say
  • 1959 The Genius of Ray Charles
  • 1960 Ray Charles in Person
  • 1960 Genius Hits The Road
  • 1961 The Genius After Hours
  • 1961 The Genius Sings The Blues
  • 1961 Soul Meeting (with Milt Jackson)
  • 1961 Do The Twist With Ray Charles
  • 1961 Dedicated To You
  • 1961 Genius + Soul = Jazz
  • 1961 Ray Charles And Betty Carter
  • 1962 Modern Sounds In Country And Western
  • 1961 Modern Sounds In Country And Western Volume 2
  • 1963 Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul
  • 1964 Sweet And Sour Tears
  • 1964 Have A Smile With Me
  • 1965 Live In Concert
  • 1965 Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues
  • 1966 Crying Time
  • 1966 Ray's Moods
  • 1967 Ray Charles Invites You To Listen
  • 1968 A Portrait of Ray
  • 1969 I'm All Yours, Baby!
  • 1969 Doing His Thing
  • 1970 My Kind of Jazz
  • 1970 Love, Country Style
  • 1971 Volcanic Action of My Soul
  • 1972 A Message From The People
  • 1972 Through The Eyes of Love
  • 1972 Jazz Number II
  • 1974 Come Live With Me
  • 1975 Renaissance
  • 1975 My Kind of Jazz III
  • 1975 Live In Japan
  • 1976 Porgy And Bess (with Cleo Laine)
  • 1977 True To Life
  • 1978 Love And Peace
  • 1979 Ain't It So
  • 1980 Brother Ray Is At It Again
  • 1983 Wish You Were Here Tonight
  • 1984 Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
  • 1985 Friendship
  • 1985 The Spirit of Christmas
  • 1986 From The Pages of My Mind
  • 1988 Just Between Us
  • 1989 Seven Spanish Angels And Other Hits
  • 1990 Would You Believe
  • 1993 My World
  • 1996 Strong Love Affair
  • 1996 Berlin, 1962
  • 2002 thanks For Bringing Love Around
  • Compilations
» More

(born September 23, 1930, Albany, Georgia, U.S.—died June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California) American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, a leading black entertainer billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based on a melding of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz music.

When Charles was an infant his family moved to Greenville, Florida, and he began his musical career at age five on a piano in a neighbourhood café. He began to go blind at six, possibly from glaucoma, completely losing his sight by age seven. He attended the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, where he concentrated on musical studies, but left school at age 15 to play the piano professionally after his mother died from cancer (his father had died when the boy was 10).Charles built a remarkable career based on the immediacy of emotion in his performances. After emerging as a blues and jazz pianist indebted to Nat King Cole's style in the late 1940s, Charles recorded the boogie-woogie classic “Mess Around” and the novelty song “It Should've Been Me” in 1952–53. His arrangement for Guitar Slim's “The Things That I Used to Do” became a blues million-seller in 1953. By 1954 Charles had created a successful combination of blues and gospel influences and signed on with Atlantic Records. Propelled by Charles's distinctive raspy voice, “I've Got a Woman” and “Hallelujah I Love You So” became hit records. “What'd I Say” led the rhythm and blues sales charts in 1959 and was Charles's own first million-seller.Charles's rhythmic piano playing and band arranging revived the “funky” quality of jazz, but he also recorded in many other musical genres. He entered the pop market with the best-sellers “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “Hit the Road, Jack” (1961). His album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962) sold more than 1,000,000 copies, as did its single, “I Can't Stop Loving You.” Thereafter his music emphasized jazz standards and renditions of pop and show tunes.From 1955 Charles toured extensively in the United States and elsewhere with his own big band and a gospel-style female backup quartet called The Raeletts. He also appeared on television and worked in films such as Ballad in Blue (1964) and The Blues Brothers (1980) as a featured act and sound track composer. He formed his own custom recording labels, Tangerine in 1962 and Crossover Records in 1973. The recipient of many national and international awards, he received 13 Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 1987. In 1986 Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Kennedy Center Honor. He published an autobiography, Brother Ray, Ray Charles' Own Story (1978), written with David Ritz.


Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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