Film career

Ray the film
Charles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.
Before shooting could begin, however, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who insisted that they sit down at two pianos and play together. For two hours, Charles challenged Foxx, who revealed the depth of his talent, and finally, Charles stood up, hugged Foxx, and gave his blessing, proclaiming, "He's the one... he can do it."
Charles was expected to attend a showing of the completed film, but he died before it opened in theaters.
As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes." One example of the film's use of dramatic license are the scenes which refer to Charles as being banned from Georgia.
The film's credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren.

Songs and lyrics

• Sweet Potato Pie lyrics
• You Don't Know Me lyrics
• Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word lyrics
• The Fever lyrics
• Do I Ever Cross Your Mind lyrics
• It Was A Very Good Year lyrics
• Hey Girl lyrics
• Sinner's Prayer lyrics
• Heaven Help Us All lyrics
• Somewhere Over The Rainbow lyrics
• Crazy Love lyrics
• Mess Around lyrics
• I Got A Woman lyrics
• A Fool For You lyrics
• Greenbacks lyrics
• Drown In My Own Tears lyrics
• Hallelujah, I Love Her So lyrics
• Lonely Avenue lyrics
• Ain't That Love lyrics
• (Night Time Is) The Right Time lyrics
• What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2) lyrics
• Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' lyrics
• Them That Got lyrics
• Sticks And Stones lyrics
• Georgia On My Mind lyrics
• Ruby lyrics
• One Mint Julep lyrics
• I've Got News For You lyrics
• Hit The Road Jack lyrics
• Unchain My Heart lyrics
• But On The Other Hand Baby lyrics
• Hide 'nor Hair lyrics
• At The Club lyrics
• I Can't Stop Loving You lyrics
• You Don't Know Me lyrics
• You Are My Sunshine lyrics
• Don't Set Me Free lyrics
• Take These Chains From My Heart lyrics
• No One To Cry To lyrics
• Busted lyrics
• Crying Time lyrics
• Together Again lyrics
• Let's Go Get Stoned lyrics
• Yesterday lyrics
• America The Beautiful lyrics
• Seven Spanish Angels lyrics
• I'll Be Good To You lyrics
• 'Cause We Got Cake (Cakewalk) lyrics
• A Sentimental Blues lyrics
• A Ship Without A Sail lyrics
• A Song For You lyrics
• A Tree In The Park lyrics
• Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive lyrics
• After My Laughter Came Tears lyrics
• Am I Blue lyrics
• And The Angels Sing lyrics
• Autumn Leaves lyrics
• Babes In Arms lyrics
• Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand lyrics
• Baby, It's Cold Outside lyrics
• Bernardine lyrics
• Bewitched lyrics
• Blackjack lyrics
• Blue Room lyrics
• Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me) lyrics
• Booty Butt lyrics
• Bye Bye, Love lyrics
• C.c. Rider lyrics
• Can't You Do A Friend A Favor? lyrics
• Candy lyrics
• Chicago (A Great Big Town) lyrics
• Christmas Time lyrics
• Come Back Baby lyrics
• Come Rain Or Come Shine lyrics
• Come With Me lyrics
• Cry lyrics
• Cry Me A River lyrics
• Dancing On The Ceiling (He Dances On My Ceiling) lyrics
• Day In - Day Out lyrics
• Days Of Wine And Roses lyrics
• Dear Old Syracuse lyrics
• Dearly Beloved lyrics
• Don't Change On Me lyrics
• Don't Cry, Baby lyrics
• Don't You Know lyrics
• Down By The River lyrics
• Dream (When You're Feeling Blue) lyrics
• Drifting Blues lyrics
• Drinking Again lyrics
• Early Autumn lyrics
• Eleanor Rigby lyrics
• Emily lyrics
• Empty Tables lyrics
• Ensemble lyrics
• Ev'ry Sunday Afternoon lyrics
• Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye lyrics
• Ev'rybody Loves You lyrics
• Ev'rything I've Got lyrics
• Falling In Love With Love lyrics
• Fifty Nifty United States lyrics
• Fools Rush In lyrics
• Friendship lyrics
• Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You? lyrics
• Girls, Girls, Girls! lyrics
• Give Her A Kiss lyrics
• Give It Back To The Indians lyrics
• Glad To Be Unhappy lyrics
• Glow Worm lyrics
• Goody, Goody lyrics
• Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry lyrics
• Hallelujah, I'm A Bum lyrics
• Hardhearted Hannah lyrics
• Have You Met Miss Jones? lyrics
• He And She lyrics
• He Was Too Good To Me lyrics
• Hello! lyrics
• Here In My Arms lyrics
• Hey! Hey! lyrics
• Hollywood Party lyrics
• Honey, Honey lyrics
• Hooray For Hollywood lyrics
• How Long Has This Been Going On? lyrics
• How To Win Friends And Influence People lyrics
• I Believe To My Soul lyrics
• I Blush lyrics
• I Can Make It Thru The Days (But Oh Those Lonely Nights) lyrics
• I Chose To Sing The Blues lyrics
• I Could Write A Book lyrics
• I Cried For You lyrics
• I Didn't Know What Time It Was lyrics
• I Don't Need No Doctor lyrics
• I Feel At Home With You lyrics
• I Had Twins (He Had Twins) lyrics
• I Like To Hear It Sometime lyrics
• I Love You So Much It Hurts lyrics
• I Married An Angel lyrics
• I Remember You lyrics
• I Thought About You lyrics
• I Wake Up Crying lyrics
• I Wanna Be Around lyrics
• I Wish I Were In Love Again lyrics
• I Won't Sing A Song lyrics
• I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now lyrics
• I'd Know You Anywhere lyrics
• I'll Do Anything But Work lyrics
• I'll Tell The Man In The Street lyrics
• I'm An Old Cowhand lyrics
• I'm Going Down To The River lyrics
• I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town lyrics
• I'm Movin' On lyrics
• I'm Old Fashioned lyrics
• I've Got Five Dollars lyrics
• If I Could lyrics
• If I Give You My Love lyrics
• If You Were Mine lyrics
• In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening lyrics
• In The Heat Of The Night lyrics
• Is There Anyone Out There? lyrics
• Isn't It Romantic? lyrics
• It Never Entered My Mind lyrics
• It Should've Been Me lyrics
• It's Easy To Remember lyrics
• Jeepers Creepers lyrics
• Johnny One Note lyrics
• Jubilation T. Cornpone lyrics
• Jumpin' In The Morning lyrics
• Just For A Thrill lyrics
• Kissa Me Baby lyrics
• Ladies Of The Evening lyrics
• Laura lyrics
• Leave My Woman Alone lyrics
• Let The Good Times Roll lyrics
• Let Your Love Flow lyrics
• Lincoln lyrics
• Little Girl Blue lyrics
• Living For The City lyrics
• Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma lyrics
• Love Me Tonight (Lover, Love Me Tonight) lyrics
• Love Never Went To College lyrics
• Love With The Proper Stranger lyrics
• Lover lyrics
• Makin' Whoopee! lyrics
• Manhattan lyrics
• Max And Frieda - Silver Wedding Anniversary lyrics
• Me And The Ghost Upstairs lyrics
• Midnight Sun lyrics
• Mimi lyrics
• Moment To Moment lyrics
• Moon River lyrics
• Mother, Look, I'm An Acrobat lyrics
• Mountain Greenery lyrics
• My Bonnie lyrics
• My Funny Valentine lyrics
• My Heart Cries For You lyrics
• My Heart Stood Still lyrics
• My Romance lyrics
• My Shining Hour lyrics
• My World lyrics
• Nobody Loves A Riveter lyrics
• Nobody's Heart lyrics
• North America Meets South America lyrics
• Oh, Diogenes! lyrics
• Ol' Man River lyrics
• On A Desert Island With Thee lyrics
• On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe lyrics
• On Your Toes lyrics
• Once Upon A Summertime lyrics
• One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) lyrics
• Out Of This World lyrics
• P.s. I Love You lyrics
• Prayer lyrics
• Quiet Night lyrics
• Rainy Night In Georgia lyrics
• Rockhouse Parts 1 & 2 lyrics
• Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer lyrics
• Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town lyrics
• Satin Doll lyrics
• Shake Your Tailfeather lyrics
• She Could Shake The Maracas lyrics
• She's On The Ball lyrics
• Simpatica lyrics
• Sing For Your Supper lyrics
• Single-o lyrics
• Sittin' On Top Of The World lyrics
• Skylark lyrics
• Sleepyhead lyrics
• Smack Dab In The Middle lyrics
• Soliciting Subscriptions lyrics
• Something's Gotta Give lyrics
• Soon lyrics
• Spic And Spanish lyrics
• Spirit In The Dark lyrics
• Spring Is Here lyrics
• Still Crazy After All These Years lyrics
• Summer Wind lyrics
• Swanee River Rock lyrics
• Take Him lyrics
• Talk To Me Baby lyrics
• Tangerine lyrics
• Teardrops In My Heart lyrics
• Tell The Truth lyrics
• Ten Cents A Dance lyrics
• That Lucky Old Sun lyrics
• That Old Black Magic lyrics
• That's Where It's At lyrics
• The Bible lyrics
• The Brightest Smile In Town lyrics
• The Cincinnati Kid lyrics
• The Danger Zone lyrics
• The Girl Friend lyrics
• The Goobergoo And The Kantan lyrics
• The Lady Is A Tramp lyrics
• The Little Drummer Boy lyrics
• The Man For Me (The Letter Song) lyrics
• The Modern Student lyrics
• The Most Beautiful Girl In The World lyrics
• The Sun's Gonna Shine Again lyrics
• The Tartar Song lyrics
• There's A Small Hotel lyrics
• This Can't Be Love lyrics
• This Funny World lyrics
• This Goes Up (Smile) lyrics
• This Is My Night To Howl lyrics
•This Little Girl Of Mine lyrics
•This Time The Dream's On Me lyrics
• Thou Swell lyrics
• Till There Was You lyrics
• To Keep My Love Alive lyrics
• Too Marvelous For Words lyrics
• Trav'lin' Light lyrics
• Two Of A Kind lyrics
• Two To Tango lyrics
• Understanding lyrics
• Vilia lyrics
• Wait Till You See Her lyrics
• Washington lyrics
• Way Out West (On West End Avenue) lyrics
• We'll Be The Same lyrics
• What Can You Do With A Man? lyrics
• What Child Is This? lyrics
• When A Woman Loves A Man lyrics
• When The World Was Young lyrics
• Where Or When lyrics
• Willow, Weep For Me lyrics
• Winter Wonderland lyrics
• With A Song In My Heart lyrics
• Without A Song lyrics
• Without Love (There Is Nothing) lyrics
• Ye Lunchtime Follies lyrics
• You Are Too Beautiful lyrics
• You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby lyrics
• You Took Advantage Of Me lyrics
• You Were Never Lovelier lyrics
• You Won't Let Me Go lyrics
• You're Nearer lyrics
• Your Cheating Heart lyrics
• Yours Sincerely lyrics

Biography

Early life
Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930(1930-09-23). He was the son of Aretha Williams, who stacked boards in a sawmill, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman.[7] The two were never married. The family moved to Greenville, Florida, when Ray was an infant. Bailey had three more families, leaving Aretha to raise the family on her own. Ray had a brother named George Robinson who drowned before Ray lost his sight.
Ray Charles was not born blind. He became totally blind by the age of seven. Charles never knew exactly why he lost his sight, though there are sources which suggest his blindness was due to glaucoma, and some other sources suggest that Ray began to lose his sight from an infection caused by soapy water to his eyes which was left untreated. He attended school at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida He also learned how to write music and play various musical instruments. While he was there, his mother died followed by his father two years later.
Early career
Before he left school, Charles began working as a musician in many bands that played in various styles, including jazz and, in Tampa “with a hillbilly band called The Florida Playboys." This is where Charles began his reputation of always wearing sunglasses.
Charles moved to Seattle in 1947. He soon started recording, first for the label Swingtime Records, achieving his first hit with "Confession Blues", recorded in 1949. The song hit #2 on the R&B charts. He followed his first recording with his only other hit with Swingtime, "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951. It hit #5 on the R&B charts. He then signed with Ahmet Ertegün at Atlantic Records a year later. When he entered show business, his name was shortened to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
Breakthrough period with Atlantic Records
Almost immediately after signing with Atlantic, Charles scored his first hit singles with the label with "It Should Have Been Me" and the Ertegun-composed "Mess Around", both making the charts in 1953. But it was Charles' "I Got A Woman" (composed with band mate Renald Richard) that brought the musician to national prominence.
The song reached the top of Billboard's R&B singles chart in 1955 and from there until 1959, Charles would have a series of R&B chart-toppers including "This Little Girl of Mine", "Lonely Avenue", "Mary Ann", "Drown in My Own Tears" and "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)", which were compiled on his Atlantic releases Hallelujah, I Love Her So, Yes Indeed!, and The Genius Sings the Blues. During this time of transition, he recruited a young girl group from Philadelphia named the Cookies as his background singing group, recording with them in New York and changing their name to the Raelettes in the process. Former record producer Joel Dorn often wrote letters to Nesuhi Ertegun telling them that he should do a duet.
Crossover success
Main article: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
In 1959, Charles crossed over to top 40 radio with the release of his impromptu blues number, "What'd I Say", which was initially conceived while Charles was in concert. The song would reach number 1 on the R&B list and would become Charles' first top ten single on the pop charts, peaking at number 6. Charles would also record The Genius of Ray Charles, before leaving Atlantic for a more lucrative deal with ABC Records in 1959.
Hit songs such as "Georgia On My Mind" (US #1), "Hit the Road Jack" (US #1) and "Unchain My Heart" (US #9) helped him transition to pop success and his landmark 1962 album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country into the mainstream of music. He also had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US #4) and "Take These Chains From My Heart" (US #8).
Later years
In 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for nearly 20 years. It was his third arrest for the offence, but he avoided jail time after kicking the habit in a clinic in Los Angeles. He spent a year on parole in 1966, when his single "Crying Time" reached #6 on the charts.
During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss, with some big hits and critically acclaimed work. His version of "Georgia On My Mind" was proclaimed the state song of Georgia on April 24, 1979, with Charles performing it on the floor of the state legislature. He also had success with his unique version of "America the Beautiful." In November 1977 Charles appeared as the host of NBC's Saturday Night Live.
In the late 1980s a number of events increased Charles' recognition among young audiences. He made a cameo appearance in the popular 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1985, "The Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show on NBC. In a Pepsi Cola commercial of the early 1990s, Charles popularized the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby!"
Despite his support of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s and his support for the American Civil Rights Movement, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981, during an international boycott of the country because of its apartheid policy.In 1989, Charles recorded a cover version of the Japanese band Southern All Stars' song "Itoshi no Ellie" as "Ellie My Love" for a Suntory TV advertisement, reaching #3 on Japan's Oricon chart. Eventually, it sold more than 400,000 copies, and became that year's best-selling single performed by a Western artist for the Japanese music market.
Charles has also appeared at two Presidential inaugurations. In 1985, he performed for Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, and in 1993 performed for Bill Clinton's first inauguration.
In the late '80s and early '90s, Charles made appearances on The Super Dave Osbourne Show, where he performed and appeared in a few vignettes where he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for quite a few projects. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit "I'll Be Good to You" in 1990, from Jones' album Back on the Block.
Following Jim Henson's death in 1990, Ray Charles appeared in the one-hour CBS tribute, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. He gave a short speech about the deceased, stating that Henson "took a simple song and a piece of felt and turned it into a moment of great power". Charles was referring to the song "It's Not Easy Being Green", which Charles later performed with the rest of the Muppet cast in a tribute to Henson's legacy.
During the sixth season of Designing Women, Ray Charles vocally performed "Georgia On My Mind", rather than the song being rendered by other musicians without lyrics as in the previous five seasons.
Final appearances
In 2000, Charles made a special guest appearance on Blue's Clues Big Musical Movie as a fictional character named G-Clef. The Persuasions also made a guest appearance as his companions. Charles recorded "There It Is" during and after filming with Steve Burns and Traci Paige Johnson. After recording, Charles commented "This has been the most fun I have had since I met President Reagan in '84."
In 2001 Charles played a memorable show in front of a sold out Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela.
In 2002 Charles headlined during the Blues Passions Cognac festival in southern France.
In 2002, he took part with other musicians in a peace concert in Rome, which was the first event to take place inside the city’s ancient Colosseum since A.D. 404. The event was organized in partnership with the Glocal Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation.
In June 2003, Ray Charles presented one of his greatest admirers, Van Morrison, with his award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the two sang Morrison's song from the Moondance album, "Crazy Love". This performance is captured on Morrison's 2007 album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3.
On Friday, April 11, 2003, Ray Charles sang 'America The Beautiful' at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, prior to the rained out Red Sox home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
In 2003 Charles performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, D.C., at what may have been his final performance in public. Ray Charles' final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles.
He died on June 10, 2004 of liver cancer at his home in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by family and friends. His body was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
Susaye Greene, former member of Charles' Raelettes, as well as the Supremes and Wonderlove and currently a solo artist, was noted for being the only Raelette to sing at Ray Charles' funeral. After the funeral, the BBC said "it did not go unnoticed that Susaye was the only Raelette to sing at Ray's funeral."[citation needed]
His final album, Genius Loves Company, released two months after his death, consists of duets with various admirers and contemporaries: B.B. King, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Gladys Knight, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Johnny Mathis. The album won eight Grammy Awards, including five for Ray Charles for Best Pop Vocal Album, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Here We 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. King.
The album included a version of Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow", sung as a duet by Charles and Johnny Mathis; that recording was later played at his memorial service.
Two more posthumous albums, Genius & Friends (2005) and Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006), were released. Genius & Friends consisted of duets recorded from 1997-2005 with artists were personally chosen by Ray Charles. Ray Sings, Basie Swings consists of archived vocals of Ray Charles from a live 1973 performance added to Count Basie's music. Charles' vocals recorded from the concert mixing board were added to a new accompaniment by the Count Basie Orchestra (among others). Gregg Field, who had performed as a drummer with both Charles and Basie, produced this album. and his T.V. show on fox television Personal life
Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children by 10 different women. His first marriage to Eileen Williams was brief: July 31, 1951 to 1952. He has three children from his second marriage to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson from April 5, 1955 to 1977. His long term girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.
His children are:
Charles Wayne Hendricks (son of Marge Hendricks — one of the Raelettes)
Evelyn Robinson (daughter of Louise Mitchell)
Raenee Robinson (daughter of Mae Mosely Lyles)
Sheila Robinson (daughter of Sandra)
Jean Bettincent Kotchounian (son of Arlette Kotchounian — worked with him as photographer on Would You Believe album)
David Robinson (son of Della Robinson)
Ray Charles Robinson, Jr. (son of Della Robinson)
Reverend Robert Robinson (son of Della Robinson)
Reatha Butler
Alexandria Bertrand (daughter of Chantelle Bertrand)
Robyn Moffett (daughter of Gloria Moffett)
Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok (son of Mary Anne den Bok)
Charles gave each of his 12 children $1,000,000 tax free in 2004 just before he died.

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Ray Charles is a pianist and a singer who was discoverd in America. Ray Charles was born in Albany Georgia where he got a disease in his eye which made him blind. Although he was blind a man in his village taught him how to play the piano, and when he got good enough he went to America to play music as a career.