Ray Charles

See all 62 pictures

Play Radio

Listen to Ray Charles Radio, featuring artists like Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, James Brown and more…

• 
  Search on Spotify

  Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more

16,527,777 plays (1,167,932 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Ray Charles Ringtones to Cell

More options

• Download
• Amazon
• Send Ringtones to Cell
• Tonefuse Search

Add to my Library

Albany, Georgia (1930 – 2004)

Ray Charles (Ray Charles Robinson, Albany, Georgia, September 23, 1930 - Beverly Hills, California, June 10, 2004), was an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and band leader.

As a rock and roll, rhythm & blues, soul, blues, jazz, country and pop musician he helped to shape the sound of rhythm & blues.

He brought a soulful sound to everything from country music (“I Can’t Stop Loving You”) to rock and roll (“Mess around”), to pop standards to a now-iconic rendition of “America The Beautiful.” Frank Sinatra called him “the only genius in the business.”

Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930. He was the son of Aretha Williams, a share cropper, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman. 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 Charles was not born blind. He started to lose his sight somewhere at the age of five. He was rendered totally blind by the age of seven. Charles never knew exactly why he lost his sight, though there are sources that 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 Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida from 1937-1945 where he developed his musical gift that he is known and remembered for today. His father died when he was ten, followed by his mother five years later.

Read more… Edit

Popular tags: jazz, soul, blues, rhythm and blues, piano  See more

Shouts: 711 shouts

Share this artist:

• Send
• Tweet

Top Albums

• Soul Legend
  Ray Charles

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search

  New

• Anthology
  Ray Charles

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon $4.64
  • eBay Search
• Ray!
  Ray Charles

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search
• Mess Around
  Ray Charles

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon $14.52
  • eBay Search

Top Tracks

• Last Week
• Last 6 months

1		HIT THE ROAD JACK			4,295
2		Georgia On My Mind			2,780
3		I got a woman			1,281
4		Mess around			1,243
5		Unchain My Heart			1,219
6		I've Got a Woman			1,171
7		What'd I Say			1,001
8		Drown in my own tears			925
9		Here We Go Again			834
10		Hallelujah I Love Her So			798
11		I Can't Stop Loving You			779
12		You Don't Know Me			711
13		A Fool for You			676
14		You Are My Sunshine			586
15		(Night Time Is) The Right TIme			554

Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3

See more