Did Ray Charles Use Drugs Again

American musician (1930–2004)

Ray Charles
Charles in the 1960s
Born	Ray Charles Robinson[notation i] (1930-09-23)September 23, 1930 Albany, Georgia, U.S.[one]
Died	June x, 2004(2004-06-10) (aged 73) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting identify	Inglewood Park Cemetery
Occupation	Musician vocaliser songwriter composer
Years active	1947–2004[2]
Spouse(s)	Eileen Williams ​ ​ (1000. 1951; div. 1952)​ Della Beatrice Howard ​ ​ (yard. 1955; div. 1977)​
Children	12
Musical career
Genres	R&B soul blues gospel state jazz rock and roll
Instruments	Vocals piano
Years active	1947–2004[2]
Labels	Atlantic ABC Tangerine/Crossover Warner Bros. Swing Fourth dimension Hold Columbia Flashback
Associated acts	The Raelettes Usa for Africa Billy Joel Gladys Knight Hank Williams Jr. Willie Nelson
Musical artist
Website	raycharles.com

Ray Charles Robinson Sr. ^{[note i]} (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers ever, and he was oft referred to past contemporaries every bit "The Genius". Amid friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray".^{[3] [4]} Charles was blinded during babyhood, possibly due to glaucoma.^[2]

Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining dejection, jazz, rhythm and dejection, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records.^{[2] [five] [6]} He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and dejection, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums.^{[7] [8] [9]} While he was with ABC, Charles became ane of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.^[five]

Charles'due south 1960 hit "Georgia On My Mind" was the showtime of his three career No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1962 album Modern Sounds In State And Western Music became his first anthology to superlative the Billboard 200.^[10] Charles had multiple singles reach the Top 40 on various Billboard charts: 44 on the United states R&B singles chart, 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart, 2 on the Hot Land singles charts.^[11]

Charles cited Nat King Cole every bit a chief influence, but his music was also influenced by Louis Hashemite kingdom of jordan and Charles Brownish.^[12] He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles "the only truthful genius in show business organization," although Charles downplayed this notion.^[13] Billy Joel said, "This may audio similar sacrilege, but I recollect Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley".^[fourteen]

For his musical contributions, Charles received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and the Polar Music Prize. He was one of the countdown inductees at the Stone and Curlicue Hall of Fame in 1986. He has won 18 Grammy Awards (5 posthumously),^[10] the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[10] Rolling Stone ranked Charles No. ten on their listing of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time,^[3] and No. 2 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Fourth dimension.^[15] In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.^[xvi]

Early life and education [edit]

Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia.^{[notation i]} He was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, and Aretha (or Reatha) Robinson (nee Williams), a laundress, of Greenville, Florida.

During his mother Aretha's babyhood, her mother died. Her father could not keep her. Bailey, a man her father worked with, took her in. The Robinson family—Bailey, his wife Mary Jane and his mother— informally adopted her and Aretha took the surname Robinson. A few years later 15-year-quondam Aretha became pregnant past Bailey. During the ensuing scandal, she left Greenville late in the summer of 1930 to be with family in Albany, Georgia. After the nascency of the child, Ray Charles, she and the baby Charles returned to Greenville. Aretha and Bailey's married woman, who had lost a son, then shared in Charles's upbringing. The father abandoned the family, left Greenville, and married another adult female elsewhere. By his get-go birthday, Charles had a blood brother, George. Later, no one could retrieve who George's male parent was.^[12]

Charles was deeply devoted to his mother and later recalled, despite her poor health and adversity, her perseverance, self-sufficiency, and pride as guiding lights in his life.

In his early years, Charles showed an interest in mechanical objects and would often watch his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. His musical marvel was sparked at Wylie Pitman'south Ruddy Fly Cafe, at the age of 3, when Pitman played boogie woogie on an old upright piano; Pitman subsequently taught Charles how to play the pianoforte. Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe and even lived there when they were in financial distress.^[12] Pitman would also care for Ray's younger brother George, to accept some of the burden off their mother. George accidentally drowned in his mother's laundry tub when he was four years erstwhile.^{[12] [17]}

Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four^[4] or five,^[18] and was blind by the age of seven, likely as a result of glaucoma.^[19] Destitute, uneducated, and mourning the loss of her younger son, Aretha Robinson used her connections in the local community to find a schoolhouse that would accept a blind African-American pupil. Despite his initial protestation, Charles attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945.^[12]

Charles further developed his musical talent at school^[nineteen] and was taught to play the classical piano music of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. His teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, taught him how to use braille music, a difficult process that requires learning the left hand movements by reading braille with the correct hand and learning the correct manus movements by reading braille with the left hand, and then combining the 2 parts.

Ray Charles's mother died in the spring of 1945, when he was fourteen. Her expiry came equally a shock to him; he subsequently said the deaths of his brother and mother were "the ii great tragedies" of his life. Charles decided not to render to school after the funeral.^[12]

Career [edit]

1945–1952: Florida, Los Angeles, and Seattle [edit]

Later leaving school, Charles moved to Jacksonville to live with Charles Wayne Powell, who had been friends with his late mother. He played the piano for bands at the Ritz Theatre in LaVilla for over a twelvemonth,^[20] earning $4 a nighttime (U.s.a.$39, in 2020 value^[21]). He joined Local 632 of the musicians' union, in the hope that it would assist him get work,^[22] and was able to utilise the union hall's pianoforte to practice, since he did non have ane at home; he there learned piano licks from copying the other players.^[23] He started to build a reputation equally a talented musician in Jacksonville, only the jobs did not come fast enough for him to construct a stiff identity, and so, at age 16, he moved to Orlando, where he lived in deadline poverty and went without nutrient for days.^[24] Information technology was difficult for musicians to find work; since World War 2 had ended, there were no "G.I. Joes" left to entertain.^{[ commendation needed ]} Charles eventually started to write arrangements for a pop music band, and in the summer of 1947, he unsuccessfully auditioned to play piano for Lucky Millinder and his sixteen-piece ring.^[25]

In 1947, Charles moved to Tampa, where he held two jobs, including one as a pianist for Charles Brantley's Honey Dippers.^[26]

In his early career, Charles modeled himself on Nat King Cole. His first 4 recordings—"Wondering and Wondering", "Walking and Talking", "Why Did You Go?" and "I Found My Baby There"—were allegedly done in Tampa, although some discographies claim he recorded them in Miami in 1951 or else Los Angeles in 1952.^[25]

Charles had always played piano for other people, only he was keen to have his own ring. He decided to leave Florida for a large urban center, and, considering Chicago and New York City too big, followed his friend Gossie McKee to Seattle, Washington, in March 1948, knowing that the biggest radio hits came from northern cities.^{[25] [27]} At that place he met and befriended, nether the tutelage of Robert Blackwell, the fifteen-year-old Quincy Jones.^[28]

With Charles on piano, McKee on guitar, and Milton Garrett on bass, the McSon trio (named for Mc Kee and Robin son ) started playing the 1–v A.Chiliad. shift at the Rocking Chair.^[29] Publicity photos of this trio are some of the primeval known photographs of Charles. In Apr 1949, he and his ring recorded "Confession Blues", which became his commencement national hit, soaring to the 2nd spot on the Billboard R&B chart.^[25] While still working at the Rocking Chair, Charles also arranged songs for other artists, including Cole Porter'south "Ghost of a Chance" and Empty-headed Gillespie'southward "Emanon".^[24] Afterward the success of his first 2 singles, Charles moved to Los Angeles in 1950 and spent the adjacent few years touring with the blues musician Lowell Fulson as Fulson's musical director.^[4]

In 1950, Charles' performance in a Miami hotel impressed Henry Rock, who went on to record a Ray Charles Rockin' record, which did not accomplish popularity. During his stay in Miami, Charles was required to stay in the segregated but thriving black community of Overtown. Rock subsequently helped Jerry Wexler find Charles in Leningrad.^[thirty]

After signing with Swing Fourth dimension Records, Charles recorded two more R&B hits under the proper noun Ray Charles: "Infant, Let Me Concord Your Hand" (1951), which reached No. 5, and "Kissa Me Infant" (1952), which reached No. viii. Swing Fourth dimension folded the following yr, and Ahmet Ertegun signed Charles to Atlantic.^[19]

In add-on to existence a musician, Charles was also a record producer, producing Guitar Slim'due south number 1 striking, "The Things That I Used to Do".

1952–1959: Atlantic Records [edit]

In June 1952, Atlantic bought Charles's contract for $2,500 (United states of america$24,364 in 2020 dollars^[21]).^{[31] [32]} His first recording session for Atlantic ("The Midnight Hour"/"Scroll with My Baby") took identify in September 1952, although his terminal Swing Time release ("Misery in My Heart"/"The Snow Is Falling") would non appear until Feb 1953.

In 1953, "Mess Around" became his first small hit for Atlantic; during the next twelvemonth, he had hits with "It Should've Been Me" and "Don't You lot Know".^[32] He too recorded the songs "Midnight Hour" and "Sinner's Prayer" around this time.

Late in 1954, Charles recorded "I've Got a Adult female". The lyrics were written past bandleader Renald Richard. Charles claimed the composition. They later admitted that the vocal went back to the Southern Tones' "It Must Exist Jesus" (1954). It became ane of his most notable hits, reaching No. 2 on the R&B chart.^[32] "I've Got a Woman" combined gospel, jazz, and dejection elements. In 1955, he had hits with "This Fiddling Girl of Mine" and "A Fool for Yous". In upcoming years, hits included "Drown in My Own Tears" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So". In 1959, the song"What'd I Say" reached No. half-dozen on the Billboard Pop chart and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart.^{[eleven] [32]}

Charles too recorded jazz, such equally The Keen Ray Charles (1957). He worked with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, releasing Soul Brothers in 1958 and Soul Meeting in 1961. By 1958, he was non only headlining major black venues such as the Apollo Theater in New York, but besides larger venues such every bit Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival, where his first alive album was recorded in 1958. He hired a female singing group, the Cookies, and renamed them the Raelettes. In 1958, Charles and the Raelettes performed for the famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. held at the Shrine Auditorium on August 3. The other headliners were Petty Willie John, Sam Cooke, Ernie Freeman, and Bo Rhambo. Sammy Davis Jr. was likewise there to crown the winner of the Miss Cavalcade of Jazz beauty contest. The event featured the height four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.^{[33] [34]}

1959–1971: Crossover success [edit]

Charles reached the pinnacle of his success at Atlantic with the release of "What'd I Say", which combined gospel, jazz, dejection and Latin music. Charles said he wrote it spontaneously while he was performing in clubs with his band. Despite some radio stations banning the vocal because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, the song became Charles' first superlative-ten pop record.^[35]

Later in 1959, he released his beginning country vocal (a cover of Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On") and recorded 3 more than albums for the label: a jazz record (The Genius After Hours, 1961); a dejection record (The Genius Sings the Blues, 1961); and a big band record (The Genius of Ray Charles, 1959) which was his starting time Peak 40 anthology, peaking at No. 17.^[36]

His contract with Atlantic expired in 1959, and several big labels offered him record deals. Choosing not to renegotiate his contract with Atlantic, he signed with ABC-Paramount in November 1959.^[37] He obtained a more liberal contract than other artists had at the time, with ABC offer him a $50,000 (US$443,893 in 2020 dollars^[21]) almanac advance, college royalties than before, and eventual ownership of his principal tapes—a very valuable and lucrative deal at the time.^[38] During his Atlantic years, Charles had been hailed for his inventive compositions, but by the time of the release of the largely instrumental jazz album Genius + Soul = Jazz (1960) for ABC'due south subsidiary label Impulse!, he had given up on writing to follow his eclectic impulses equally an interpreter.^{[35] [ description needed ]}

With "Georgia on My Mind", his first hit unmarried for ABC-Paramount in 1960, Charles received national acclaim and 4 Grammy Awards, including 2 for "Georgia on My Mind" (Best Song Performance Single Record or Track, Male person, and Best Functioning past a Pop Single Creative person). Written by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael, the vocal was Charles'southward first work with Sid Feller, who produced, bundled and conducted the recording.^{[35] [39]} Charles' rendition of the melody would help elevate it to the status of an American classic, and his version also became the land song of Georgia later on in 1979.^{[twoscore] [41]}

Charles earned another Grammy for the follow-up track "Hit the Road Jack", written by R&B vocaliser Percy Mayfield.

By late 1961, Charles had expanded his modest road ensemble to a big band, partly every bit a response to increasing royalties and touring fees, becoming 1 of the few blackness artists to cantankerous over into mainstream pop with such a level of creative control.^{[35] [42]} This success, however, came to a momentary halt during a concert bout in November 1961, when a law search of Charles's hotel room in Indianapolis, Indiana, led to the discovery of heroin in the medicine cabinet. The example was eventually dropped, every bit the search lacked a proper warrant by the police force, and Charles soon returned to music.^[42]

In the early on 1960s, on the way from Louisiana to Oklahoma City, Charles faced a near-death experience when the pilot of his plane lost visibility, as snow and his failure to use the defroster caused the windshield of the aeroplane to become completely covered in ice. The pilot made a few circles in the air before he was finally able to see through a small part of the windshield and land the plane. Charles placed a spiritual estimation on the experience, claiming that "something or someone which instruments cannot detect" was responsible for creating the small opening in the ice on the windshield which enabled the pilot to eventually land the plane safely.^[12]

The 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. two, helped to bring country music into the musical mainstream. Charles'due south version of the Don Gibson vocal "I Tin't Terminate Loving You" topped the Pop chart for five weeks, stayed at No. 1 on the R&B nautical chart for 10 weeks, and gave him his only number-one record in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. In 1962, he founded his record label, Tangerine, which ABC-Paramount promoted and distributed.^{[12] : 248 [25] : 213–16} He had major pop hits in 1963 with "Disrepair" (US No. four) and "Take These Chains from My Centre" (The states No. eight).^[43] In 1964, Margie Hendrix was kicked out of the Raelettes afterward a big argument.

In 1964, Charles's career was halted once more after he was arrested for a third time for possession of heroin.^[44] He agreed to go to a rehabilitative facility to avoid jail fourth dimension and eventually kicked his habit at a dispensary in Los Angeles. Later spending a year on parole, Charles reappeared in the charts in 1966 with a serial of hits composed with Ashford & Simpson and Jo Armstead,^[45] including the dance number "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Let'due south Go Get Stoned", which became his commencement number-ane R&B hit in several years. His comprehend version of "Crying Time", originally recorded past country singer Cadet Owens, reached No. 6 on the popular nautical chart and helped Charles win a Grammy Honor the following March. In 1967, he had a top-twenty hitting with another ballad, "Here We Go Again".^[46]

1971–1983: Commercial reject [edit]

Charles's renewed nautical chart success, however, proved to be curt lived, and by the 1970s his music was rarely played on radio stations. The rising of psychedelic stone and harder forms of rock and R&B music had reduced Charles'south radio appeal, as did his choosing to record pop standards and covers of contemporary rock and soul hits, since his earnings from owning his master tapes had taken away the motivation to write new material. Charles however connected to have an active recording career. Most of his recordings between 1968 and 1973 evoked stiff reactions: either adored or panned by fans and critics alike.^[19] His recordings during this period, particularly 1972's A Message from the People, moved toward the progressive soul audio popular at the time.^[47] A Bulletin from the People included his unique gospel-influenced version of "America the Beautiful" and a number of protest songs about poverty and civil rights. Charles was oft criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" considering it was very drastically inverse from the vocal's original version. On July xiv, 1973, Margie Hendrix, the mother of Ray's son Charles Wayne Hendrix, died at 38 years old, which led to Ray caring for the child. The official cause of her decease is unknown.

In 1974, Charles left ABC Records and recorded several albums on his own label, Crossover Records. A 1975 recording of Stevie Wonder's hitting "Living for the City" afterward helped Charles win another Grammy. In 1977, he reunited with Ahmet Ertegun and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the anthology True to Life, remaining with his old label until 1980. Nonetheless, the label had now begun to focus on stone acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, were starting to be neglected. In November 1977 he appeared every bit the host of the NBC television testify Saturday Nighttime Live.^[48]

In April 1979, his version of "Georgia on My Mind" was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, and an emotional Charles performed the song on the flooring of the land legislature. In 1980 Charles performed in the musical film The Dejection Brothers.^[nineteen] Although he had notably supported the American Ceremonious Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, Charles was criticized for performing at the Dominicus City resort in South Africa in 1981 during an international boycott protesting that country's apartheid policy. He later defended his choice of performing in that location, insisting that the audience of black and white fans would integrate while he was at that place.^[nineteen]

1983–2004: Subsequently years [edit]

In 1983, Charles signed a contract with Columbia. He recorded a cord of country albums and had hit singles in duets with singers such equally George Jones, Chet Atkins, B. J. Thomas, Mickey Gilley, Hank Williams Jr., Dee Dee Bridgewater ("Precious Thing") and his longtime friend Willie Nelson, with whom he recorded "Seven Castilian Angels".

In 1985, Charles participated in the musical recording and video "We Are the World", a charity unmarried recorded by the supergroup United Back up of Artists (USA) for Africa.

Before the release of his get-go album for Warner, Would You Believe, Charles fabricated a return to the R&B charts with a comprehend of the Brothers Johnson'due south "I'll Be Adept to You", a duet with his lifelong friend Quincy Jones and the vocalizer Chaka Khan, which hitting number i on the R&B nautical chart in 1990 and won Charles and Khan a Grammy for their duet. Prior to this, Charles returned to the pop charts with "Baby Grand", a duet with the vocalist Billy Joel. In 1989, he recorded a cover of the Southern All Stars' "Itoshi no Ellie" for a Japanese TV advertizing for the Suntory brand, releasing information technology in Japan equally "Ellie My Love", where it reached No.3 on its Oricon chart.^[49] In the same yr he was a special guest at the Arena di Verona during the tour promoting Oro Incenso & Birra of the Italian vocalist Zucchero Fornaciari.

In 2001–02, Charles appeared in commercials for the New Jersey Lottery to promote its entrada "For every dream, in that location's a jackpot".^[50]

In 2003, he headlined the White Business firm Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., attended past President George W. Bush, Laura Bush-league, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.^[51]

Also in 2003, Charles presented Van Morrison with Morrison's award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the 2 sang Morrison's vocal "Crazy Love" (the operation appears on Morrison's 2007 anthology The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3). In 2003, Charles performed "Georgia on My Mind" and "America the Cute" at a televised almanac feast of electronic media journalists held in Washington, D.C. His final public appearance was on April xxx, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles.^[19]

Legacy [edit]

Influence on music industry [edit]

Charles possessed one of the nigh recognizable voices in American music. In the words of musicologist Henry Pleasants:

Sinatra, and Bing Crosby before him, had been masters of words. Ray Charles is a principal of sounds. His records disembalm an extraordinary array 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 eye and mind or of one whose feelings are too intense for satisfactory verbal or conventionally melodic articulation. He can't tell it to yous. He tin'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 vox alone, with footling assistance from the text or the notated music, conveys the message.^[52]

Pleasants continues, "Ray Charles is usually described as a baritone, and his speaking vox would suggest as much, as would the difficulty he experiences in reaching and sustaining the baritone's high E and F in a popular ballad. But the voice undergoes some sort of transfiguration under stress, and in music of gospel or blues character he tin can and does sing for measures on end in the high tenor range of A, B flat, B, C and even C abrupt and D, sometimes in full vocalization, sometimes in an ecstatic head voice, sometimes in falsetto. In falsetto he continues upwards to E and F above high C. On 1 extraordinary tape, 'I'grand Going Down to the River'...he hits an incredible B apartment...giving him an overall range, including the falsetto extension, of at least iii octaves."

His style and success in the genres of rhythm and blues and jazz had an influence on a number of highly successful artists, including, as Jon Pareles has noted, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, and Baton Joel.^[53] Other singers who have acknowledged Charles's influence on their own styles include James Booker,^[54] Steve Winwood,^[55] Richard Manuel,^[56] and Gregg Allman.^[57] According to Joe Levy, a music editor for Rolling Stone, "The striking records he made for Atlantic in the mid-1950s mapped out everything that would happen to rock 'north' whorl and soul music in the years that followed".^[35] Charles was also an inspiration to Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, who told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet: "I was near 15. In the middle of the night with friends, we were listening to jazz. It was "Georgia on My Mind", Ray Charles's version. And then I idea 'One mean solar day, if I make some people feel only one-twentieth of what I am feeling now, information technology volition be quite plenty for me.'"^[58]

Ray, a biopic portraying his life and career betwixt the mid-1930s and 1979, was released in Oct 2004, starring Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Laurels for Best Actor for the role.

Awards and honors [edit]

In 1975, Ray Charles was inducted into the American Academy of Achievement and presented with the Golden Plate Award and the Academy of Achievement gilded medal.^{[59] [threescore]}

In 1979, Charles was ane of the first musicians born in the country to exist inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.^[61] His version of "Georgia on My Mind" was besides made the official land song of the country of Georgia.^[62]

In 1981, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was one of the outset inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural anniversary, in 1986.^[63] He as well received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.^[64]

Charles won 17 Grammy Awards from his 37 nominations.^[10] In 1987, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[10]

In 1991, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and was presented with the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Accomplishment during the 1991 UCLA Spring Sing.^[65]

In 1990, he was given an honorary doctorate of fine arts by the University of South Florida.^[66]

In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[67] In 1998 he was awarded the Polar Music Prize, together with Ravi Shankar, in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004 he was inducted to the National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame.^[68] The Grammy Awards of 2005 were dedicated to Charles.

In 2001, Morehouse Higher honored Charles with the Candle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Entertainment,^[69] and later that aforementioned yr granted him an honorary doctor of humane letters.^[seventy] Charles donated $two million to Morehouse "to fund, educate and inspire the next generation of musical pioneers."^[seventy]

In 2003, Charles was awarded an honorary degree past Dillard University, and upon his expiry he endowed a professorship of African-American culinary history at the school, the get-go such chair in the nation.^[71]

In 2010, a $20 one thousand thousand, 76,000 sq ft (seven,100 m²) facility named the Ray Charles Performing Arts Heart and Music Academic Building, opened at Morehouse.^[72]

The The states Postal Service issued a forever stamp honoring Charles, as part of its Musical Icons series, on September 23, 2013.^[73]

In 2015, Charles was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.^[74]

In 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "Ray Charles'southward version of "America the Beautiful" will e'er be in my view the most patriotic piece of music e'er performed"^[75]

In 2021, Charles was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the tertiary African-American to be inducted subsequently Charley Pride (2000) and Deford Bailey (2005). He was too the 13th person to be inducted into both the Country and Stone Halls of Fame.^[76]

Contribution to ceremonious rights movement [edit]

On March 15, 1961, before long after the release of the hit vocal "Georgia on My Heed" (1960), the Albany, Georgia-born musician was scheduled to perform at a dance at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, only cancelled the testify after learning from students of Paine College that the larger auditorium dance floor would be restricted to whites, while blacks would be obligated to sit in the Music Hall balcony. Charles left town immediately later letting the public know why he wouldn't exist performing, but the promoter went on to sue Charles for breach of contract, and Charles was fined $757 in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on June 14, 1962. The following year, Charles did perform at a desegregated Bell Auditorium concert together with his backup grouping the Raelettes on October 23, 1963,^{[77] [78] [79]} as depicted in the 2004 motion-picture show, Ray.^[80] On Dec 7, 2007, Ray Charles Plaza was opened in Albany, Georgia, with a revolving, lighted bronze sculpture of Charles seated at a piano.^[65]

The Ray Charles Foundation [edit]

Statue past Andy Davis in Ray Charles Plaza in Albany, Georgia

Founded in 1986, the Ray Charles Foundation maintains the mission statement of financially supporting institutions and organizations in the research of hearing disorders.^[81] Originally known equally The Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders, it was renamed in 2006 and has provided financial donations to numerous institutions involved in hearing loss research and educational activity.^[82] The purpose of the foundation has been "to administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes; to encourage, promote and educate, through grants to institutions and organizations, as to the causes and cures for diseases and disabilities of the hearing impaired and to assist organizations and institutions in their social educational and academic advancement of programs for the youth, and carry on other charitable and educational activities associated with these goals as immune by law".^[83]

Recipients of donations include Benedict College, Morehouse Higher, and other universities.^[84] The foundation has taken action confronting donation recipients who do not employ funds in accordance with its mission statement, such as the Albany State Academy, which was made to return a $3 meg donation afterwards not using the funds for over a decade.^[85] The foundation houses its executive offices at the historic RPM International Building, originally the home of Ray Charles Enterprises and now also home to the Ray Charles Memorial Library on the kickoff flooring, which was founded on September 23, 2010 (what would have been his 80th altogether). The library was founded to "provide an avenue for young children to feel music and art in a manner that will inspire their creativity and imagination", and is non open up to the public without reservation, as the main goal is to brainwash mass groups of underprivileged youth and provide fine art and history to those without access to such documents.^[86]

Personal life [edit]

Charles stated in his 1978 autobiography, Blood brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story, that he became hooked on women after losing his virginity at 12 years old to a woman about 20. "Cigarettes and smack [heroin] are the two truly addictive habits I've known. You might add women," he said. "My obsession centers on women—did so [when immature] and does now. I can't leave them alone," he added.^[87]

Relationships and children [edit]

Charles was married twice. His first marriage was less than a twelvemonth, his second 22 years. Throughout his life Charles had many relationships with women with whom he fathered a dozen children.

His spousal relationship to Eileen Williams lasted from July 31, 1951, until 1952.

He met his 2nd wife Della Beatrice Howard Robinson (called "Bea" by Charles) in Texas in 1954. They married the post-obit year on April 5, 1955. Their first kid together, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., was built-in in 1955. Charles was not in town for the nascency considering he was playing a bear witness in Texas. The couple had two more sons, David and Robert. They raised their children in View Park, California.^[88] Charles felt that his heroin addiction took a cost on Della during their marriage.^[12] Due to his drug addiction, extramarital affairs on tours and volatile behavior, the marriage deteriorated and they divorced after 22 years of wedlock in 1977.^[89]

Charles had a six-twelvemonth-long thing with Margie Hendrix, 1 of the original Raelettes, and in 1959 they had a son, Charles Wayne. His affair with Mae Mosley Lyles resulted in some other daughter, Renee, born in 1961. In 1963, past Sandra Jean Betts, Ray Charles had a girl, Sheila Raye Charles, a vocaliser and songwriter who died of chest cancer on June 15, 2017.^[90] In 1977, Charles had a child with his Parisian lover Arlette Kotchounian whom he met in 1967.^[91] His long-term girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.^[92]

Charles fathered a total of 12 children with ten different women:^[36]

• Evelyn Robinson, born in 1949 (girl with Louise Flowers)
• Ray Charles Robinson Jr., born May 25, 1955 (son with wife Della Bea Robinson)
• David Robinson, built-in in 1958 (son with wife Della Bea Robinson)
• Charles Wayne Hendricks, built-in on October one, 1959 (son with Margie Hendricks, i of the Raelettes)^[91]
• Robert Robinson, born in 1960 (son with wife Della Bea Robinson)
• Renee Robinson, built-in in 1961 (girl with Mae Mosely Lyles)
• Sheila Robinson, born in 1963 (daughter with Sandra Jean Betts)
• Reatha Butler, born in 1966
• Alexandra Bertrand, born in 1968 (daughter with Mary-Chantal Bertrand)
• Vincent Kotchounian, built-in in 1977 (son with Arlette Kotchounian)
• Robyn Moffett, built-in in 1978 (girl with Gloria Moffett)
• Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok, born in 1987 (son with Mary Anne den Bok)^[89]

Charles held a family luncheon for his twelve children in 2002, 10 of whom attended. He told them he was mortally ill and $500,000 had been placed in trusts for each of the children to be paid out over the adjacent five years.^{[36] [93]}

Drug abuse and legal issues [edit]

At xviii, Charles first tried marijuana when he played in McSon Trio and was eager to try information technology as he idea it helped musicians create music and tap into their inventiveness. He later became addicted to heroin for seventeen years.^[87] Charles was first arrested in 1955, when he and his bandmates were caught backstage with loose marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including a burnt spoon, syringe, and needle. The abort did not deter his drug use, which only escalated equally he became more successful and fabricated more money.^[25]

In 1958, Charles was arrested on a Harlem street corner for possession of narcotics and equipment for administering heroin.^[94]

Charles was arrested on a narcotics accuse on November xiv, 1961, while waiting in an Indiana hotel room before a functioning. The detectives seized heroin, marijuana, and other items.^[95] Charles, then 31, said he had been a drug addict since the age of 16. The case was dismissed because of the manner in which the prove was obtained,^[96] but Charles' situation did non improve until a few years afterwards.

On Halloween 1964, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin at Boston'due south Logan Aerodrome.^[44] He decided to quit heroin and entered St. Francis Infirmary in Lynwood, California, where he endured four days of common cold turkey withdrawal. Post-obit his self-imposed stay, he pleaded guilty to iv narcotic charges. Prosecutors called for two years in prison house and a hefty fine, but the estimate listened to Dr. Hacker'southward business relationship of Charles' determination to become off drugs and he was sent to McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.^[97] The judge offered to postpone the verdict for a year if Charles agreed to undergo regular examinations by government-appointed physicians. When Charles returned to court, he received a five-year suspended sentence, 4 years of probation, and a fine of $10,000.^[98]

Charles responded to the saga of his drug apply and reform with the songs "I Don't Need No Doc" and "Let's Go Get Stoned" and the release of Crying Time, his beginning album since kick his heroin addiction in 1966.^{[99] [100]}

Chess hobby [edit]

Charles enjoyed playing chess. As function of his therapy when he quit heroin, he met with psychiatrist Friedrich Hacker [de], who taught him how to play chess, iii times a week.^[98] He used a special board with raised squares and holes for the pieces. When questioned if people effort to cheat confronting a blind man, he joked in respond, "You can't cheat in Chess... I'm gonna see that!"^[101] In a 1991 concert, he referred to Willie Nelson as "my chess partner".^[102] In 2002, he played and lost to the American grandmaster and former U.S. champion Larry Evans.^[103]

Death [edit]

In 2003, Charles had successful hip replacement surgery and was planning to go back on tour, until he began suffering from other ailments. He died at his dwelling in Beverly Hills, California, of complications resulting from liver failure,^[4] on June 10, 2004, at the historic period of 73.^[104] His funeral took identify on June eighteen, 2004, at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church building of Los Angeles, with numerous musical figures in omnipresence.^[105] B.B. Rex, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder and Wynton Marsalis each played a tribute at the funeral.^[106] He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.

His terminal anthology, Genius Loves Company, released two months after his death, consists of duets with admirers and contemporaries: B.B. Rex, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Gladys Knight, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones and Johnny Mathis. The anthology won eight Grammy Awards, including All-time Pop Song Album, Anthology of the Year, Tape of the Year and Best Popular Collaboration with Vocals (for "Here Nosotros Go Again", with Norah Jones), and Best Gospel Performance (for "Heaven Help Us All", with Gladys Knight); he also received nods for his duets with Elton John and B.B. Male monarch. The album included a version of Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg'south "Over the Rainbow", sung as a duet with Johnny Mathis, which was played at Charles' memorial service.^[106]

The episode "School's Out: The Musical" from The Adequately OddParents was dedicated to his memory.

Discography [edit]

Charles' discography is highly circuitous and extensive. AllMusic has listed approximately 60 original albums and more than 200 compilation albums, while music essayist Robert Christgau noted the existence of more. At to the lowest degree 20 record labels have released about-identical compilations of Charles' pre-Atlantic Records tracks, while many of the masters that Charles began to ain later on 1960 were not digitally reissued, leading the Atlantic sister label Rhino Entertainment to focus on rereleasing his mid-to-late 1950s music. Christgau has called Charles' discography a "monumental mess" and that "any map of his oeuvre must be personal and provisional".^[107]

Filmography [edit]

Film [edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Swingin' Forth	Himself
1965	Carol in Blueish	Himself
1966	The Large T.N.T. Prove	Himself	Documentary film
1980	The Blues Brothers	Ray	Cameo appearance
1989	Limit Up	Julius
1990	Heed Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones	Himself	Documentary
1994	Honey Thing	Himself	Cameo appearance
1996	Spy Difficult	Bus Driver	Cameo appearance
1998	New Yorkers ii	Himself	Cameo advent
2000	The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave	Himself
2000	Blue's Big Musical Movie	G-Clef (voice)	Final film role before his death in 2004
2004	Ray	Himself	Uncredited Archival footage

Television [edit]

Year	Championship	Role	Notes
1977	Sat Nighttime Live	Himself (host)	Season 3, Episode 5
1977-	Sesame Street	Himself	three episodes
1987	Who'south the Boss	Himself	Episode: "Striking the Route, Chad"
1987	St. Elsewhere	Arthur Tibbits	Episode: "Jose, Can You See?"
1987	Moonlighting	Himself	Episode: "A Trip to the Moon"
1987-1990	Super Dave	Himself	iv episodes
1994	Ray Alexander: A Taste for Justice		Television receiver motion picture
1994	Wings	Himself	Episode: "A Decent Proposal"
1997–1998	The Nanny	Sammy	4 episodes

See also [edit]

• Anthology era
• Progressive soul

Notes [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Co-ordinate to Eagle, Bob 50.; LeBlanc, Eric Southward. (May 2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. p. 361. ISBN9780313344244. , based on the authors' interpretation of 1935 Florida census data, he was born Horace Charles Robinson in Greenville, Florida. However, most other reliable sources give his nativity name every bit Ray Charles Robinson, and his birthplace as Albany, Georgia. It has been suggested that there has been a misinterpretation and that Horace Charles Robinson was in fact a half-brother.^{[ citation needed ]}

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External links [edit]

• Ray Charles Married woman wiki

• Official website
• Daily Telegraph obituary
• Oral history video excerpts at the National Visionary Leadership Project
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Appearance at WFOY Radio building
• Ray Charles autobiography: The Early Years 1930–1960 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 12, 2007)
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Ray Charles discography at Discogs
• Ray Charles at Find a Grave
• Ray Charles at IMDb
• Ray Charles discography at MusicBrainz
• "Ray Charles". Stone and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Ray Charles at Rolling Stone

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles

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