Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians of the 20th century and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians, Charles preferred being called "Brother Ray".
Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining elements of blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel into his music during his time with Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. With ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. His 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became his first album to top the Billboard 200. Charles had multiple singles reach the Top 40 on various Billboard charts: 61 on the US R&B singles chart, 33 on the Hot 100 singles chart, and eight on the Hot Country singles charts.
Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but was also influenced by Art Tatum, Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra called Charles "the only true genius in show business", although Charles downplayed this notion. Billy Joel said, "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley."
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 inaugural inductees at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Charles has won 17 Grammy Awards (five posthumously), and No. 2 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2023, in its revised list for the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time", Charles was replaced at the No. 2 position by Whitney Houston while taking the sixth spot. In 2022, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Early life and education
thumb|upright|Charles's childhood home in [[Greenville, Florida|left]]
Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. He was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, and Aretha (or Reatha) Robinson (née Williams), a laundress, of Greenville, Florida. Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe and even lived there when they were in financial distress.
Charles started to lose his sight at age four or five, and was blind by age seven, likely as a result of glaucoma. Because of his blindness, Charles donned his famous sunglasses. Destitute, uneducated, and mourning the loss of her younger son, Aretha Robinson used her connections in the local community to find a school that would accept a blind African-American pupil. Despite his initial protest, Charles attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945 and learned to play a variety of instruments, including the piano, alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and organ. He focused primarily on the piano. earning $4 a night (US$, in value). He joined Local 632 of the American Federation of Musicians, in the hope that it would help him get work, and was able to use the union hall's piano to practice, since he did not have one at home; he learned piano licks from copying the other players there. He started to build a reputation as a talented musician in Jacksonville, but the jobs did not come fast enough for him to construct a strong identity, so, at age 16, he moved to Orlando, where he lived in borderline poverty and went without food for days. 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 band.
In 1947, Charles moved to Tampa, where he held two jobs, including one as a pianist for Charles Brantley's Honey Dippers. In his early career, Charles modeled himself on Nat King Cole. His first four 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. There, under the tutelage of record producer Robert Blackwell, he met and befriended the 15-year-old Quincy Jones.
With Charles on piano, McKee on guitar, and Milton Garred on bass, The McSon Trio (named for McKee and Robinson) started playing the 1–5 A.M. shift at the Rocking Chair. Publicity photos of this trio are some of the earliest known photographs of Charles. In April 1949, he and his band recorded "Confession Blues", which became his first national hit, soaring to the second spot on the Billboard R&B chart.
After signing with Swing Time Records, Charles recorded two more R&B hits under the name Ray Charles: "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" (1951), which reached No. 5, and "Kissa Me Baby" (1952), which reached No. 8. Swing Time folded the following year, and Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic, signed Charles.
1952–1959: Atlantic Records
thumb|right|Charles in 1968
In June 1952, Atlantic bought Charles's contract for $2,500 (US$ in dollars). His first recording session for Atlantic ("The Midnight Hour"/"Roll with My Baby") took place in September 1952, although Charles's last Swing Time release ("Misery in My Heart"/"The Snow Is Falling") would not appear until February 1953.
In 1953, "Mess Around" became Charles's first small hit for Atlantic; during the next year, he had hits with "It Should've Been Me" and "Don't You Know". It became one of his most notable hits, reaching No. 2 on the R&B chart. Charles 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 Little Willie John, Sam Cooke, Ernie Freeman, and Bo Rhambo. Sammy Davis Jr. was also there to crown the winner of the Miss Cavalcade of Jazz beauty contest. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.
Charles reached the pinnacle of his success at Atlantic with the release of "What'd I Say", which combined gospel, jazz, blues and Latin music. Charles said that he wrote it spontaneously while he was performing in clubs with his band. Despite some radio stations banning the song because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, the song became Charles's first top-10 pop record. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Pop chart and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1959.
ABC offered him a $50,000 (US$ in dollars) annual advance, higher royalties than before, and eventual ownership of his master tapes—a very valuable and lucrative deal at the time. 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's subsidiary label Impulse!, he had given up on writing in favor of becoming a cover artist, giving his own eclectic arrangements of existing songs.
With "Georgia on My Mind", his first hit single for ABC-Paramount in 1960, Charles received national acclaim and four Grammy Awards, including two for "Georgia on My Mind" (Best Vocal Performance Single Record or Track, Male, and Best Performance by a Pop Single Artist). Written by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael in 1930, the song was Charles's first work with Sid Feller, who produced, arranged and conducted the recording. Charles's rendition of the tune helped elevate it to the status of an American classic, and his version also became the state song of Georgia in 1979.
thumb|left|Charles in 1971
Charles earned another Grammy for the follow-up track "Hit the Road Jack", written by R&B singer Percy Mayfield.
In 1961, Charles had expanded his small road ensemble to a big band, partly as a response to increasing royalties and touring fees, becoming one of the few black artists to cross over into mainstream pop with such a level of creative control. Concerts in Antibes and later Zurich, Lyon and Paris led to Charles becoming the No. 1 bestselling jazz artist in France for many years. This success, however, came to a momentary halt during a concert tour in November 1961, when a police search of Charles's hotel room in Indianapolis, Indiana, led to the discovery of heroin in the medicine cabinet. The case was eventually dropped, as the search lacked a proper warrant by the police, and Charles soon returned to music. and its sequel, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country music into the musical mainstream. Charles's version of the Don Gibson song "I Can't Stop Loving You" topped the Pop chart for five weeks, stayed at No. 1 on the R&B chart for ten weeks, and gave him his only No. 1 record in the UK. In 1962, he founded his record label, Tangerine, which ABC-Paramount promoted and distributed. In 1964, Margie Hendrix was kicked out of the Raelettes after a big argument.
In 1964, Charles's career was halted once more after he was arrested for a third time for possession of heroin. including the dance number "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Let's Go Get Stoned", which became his first No. 1 R&B hit in several years. His cover version of "Crying Time", originally recorded by country singer Buck Owens, reached No. 6 on the pop chart and helped Charles win a Grammy Award the following March. In 1967, he had a top-20 hit with another ballad, "Here We Go Again".
1967–1983: Commercial decline
thumb|right|alt=Color photo of Nixon and Ray Charles|Charles meeting with President [[Richard Nixon, 1972 (photo by Oliver F. Atkins)]]
Charles's renewed chart success proved to be short lived, and by the 1970s, his music was rarely played on radio stations. The rise of psychedelic rock and harder forms of rock and R&B music had reduced Charles's 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 nonetheless continued to have an active recording career. Most of his recordings between 1968 and 1973 evoked strong reactions: either adored or panned by fans and critics alike. A Message 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 often criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" because it was very drastically changed from the song's original version. On July 14, 1973, Margie Hendrix, the mother of Ray's son Charles Wayne Hendrix, died at 38 years of age, which led to Ray having to care for the child. The official cause of her death 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 hit "Living for the City" later helped Charles win another Grammy. In 1977, he reunited with Ahmet Ertegun and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the album True to Life, remaining with his old label until 1980. However, the label had now begun to focus on rock acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, were starting to be neglected. In November 1977, Charles appeared as the host of the NBC television show Saturday Night Live.
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 floor of the state legislature. In 1980, Charles performed in the musical film The Blues Brothers.
Before the release of his first album for Warner, Would You Believe, Charles made a return to the R&B charts with a cover of the Brothers Johnson's "I'll Be Good to You", a duet with his lifelong friend Quincy Jones and the singer Chaka Khan, which hit No. 1 on the R&B 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 singer-songwriter Billy Joel. In 1989, he recorded a cover of the Southern All Stars' "Itoshi no Ellie" for a Japanese TV advertisement for the Suntory brand, releasing it in Japan as "Ellie My Love", where it reached No.3 on its Oricon chart. In the same year he was a special guest at the Verona Arena during the tour promoting Oro Incenso & Birra of the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari.
thumb|right|Charles at the 2003 [[Montreal International Jazz Festival, one of his last public performances]]In 2001–02, Charles appeared in commercials for the New Jersey Lottery to promote its campaign "For every dream, there's a jackpot." In 2003, he headlined the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., attended by President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
Also in 2003, Charles presented Van Morrison with Morrison's award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the two sang Morrison's song "Crazy Love" (the performance appears on Morrison's 2007 album The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3). In 2003, Charles performed "Georgia on My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual banquet of electronic media journalists held in Washington, D.C. His final public appearance was on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles.
Pleasants continues, "Ray Charles is usually described as a baritone, and his speaking voice 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 can and does sing for measures on end in the high tenor range of A, B flat, B, C and even C sharp and D, sometimes in full voice, sometimes in an ecstatic head voice, sometimes in falsetto. In falsetto he continues up to E and F above high C. On one extraordinary record, 'I'm Going Down to the River'...he hits an incredible B flat...giving him an overall range, including the falsetto extension, of at least three octaves."
Charles's 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 Billy Joel. Other singers who have acknowledged Charles's influence on their own styles include James Booker, Steve Winwood, Richard Manuel, and Gregg Allman. According to Joe Levy, a music editor for Rolling Stone, "The hit records he made for Atlantic in the mid-1950s mapped out everything that would happen to rock 'n' roll and soul music in the years that followed."
Ray, a biopic portraying his life and career between the mid-1930s and 1979, was released in October 2004, starring Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.
Awards and honors
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Award/Honor
!Category/Recognition
!Notable Works or Details
|-
|1960
|Grammy Award
|Best Rhythm & Blues Performance
|Song: "Let the Good Times Roll"
|-
|1960
|Grammy Award
|Best Male Vocal Performance, Pop
|Song: "Georgia on My Mind"
|-
|1960
|Grammy Award
|Best Performance by a Pop Single Artist
|Song: "Georgia on My Mind"
|-
|1961
|Grammy Award
|Best Male Vocal Performance, R&B
|Song: "Hit the Road Jack"
|-
|1961
|Playboy Award
|Best Male Vocalist, Jazz and Pop
|Recognition from Playboy magazine
|-
|1962
|Grammy Award
|Best Male Solo Vocal Performance
|Song: "I Can't Stop Loving You"
|-
|1962
|Grammy Award
|Best Rhythm & Blues Recording
|Song: "I Can't Stop Loving You"
|-
|1962
|Grammy Award
|Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
|Song: "I Can't Stop Loving You"
|-
|1963
|Grammy Award
|Best Rhythm & Blues Recording
|Song: "Busted"
|-
|1963
|Grammy Award
|Best Vocal Performance, Male
|Song: "Busted"
|-
|1965
|Playboy Award
|Best Male Vocalist, Jazz
|Recognition from Playboy magazine
|-
|1967
|Grammy Award
|Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male or Female
|Song: "Crying Time"
|-
|1971
|Playboy Award
|Best Pop and R&B Vocalist
|Recognition from Playboy magazine
|-
|1975
|Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award
|For distinguished career in music
|Celebrated for career achievements
|-
|1981
|Hollywood Walk of Fame
|Star on Walk of Fame
|Recognized for his contributions to entertainment
|-
|1986
|Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
|Inductee (Inaugural Class)
|One of the first musicians inducted
|-
|1986
|Medal of Commander
|The Order of Arts and Letters
|Commander of Fine Arts and Letters
|-
|1986
|Kennedy Center Honors
|Lifetime Achievement in Arts
|Celebrated as a cultural icon and pioneer in music
|-
|1987
|President's Merit Award
|Recognition by the Recording Academy
|Honored for contributions to music
|-
|1987
|Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
|Lifetime Achievement
|Celebrated for career achievements
|-
|1990
|Honorary Doctorate – University of South Florida
|Doctor of Fine Arts
|Recognized for his influence on arts and culture
|-
|1991
|Grammy Award
|Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group
|Song: "I'll Be Good to You" (w/Quincy Jones feat. Chaka Khan)
|-
|1991
|Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award
|Inductee
|Recognized for contributions to R&B music
|-
|1991
|George and Ira Gershwin Award
|Lifetime Musical Achievement Award at UCLA Spring Sing
|Honored for his lasting musical legacy
|-
|1993
|National Medal of Arts
|Presented by President Bill Clinton
|Highest U.S. award for artistic achievement
|-
|1998
|Polar Music Prize
|Awarded with Ravi Shankar
|Sweden's most prestigious award, presented by the King & Queen
|-
|2001
|Candle Award from Morehouse College
|Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Entertainment
|Recognized for his contributions to arts and education
|-
|2001
|Honorary Doctorate – Morehouse College
|Doctor of Humane Letters
|$2 million donation to fund music education
|-
|2003
|Honorary Doctorate – Dillard University
|Doctor of Humane Letters
|Endowed a professorship in African-American culinary history
|-
|2004
|Grammy Award
|Best Gospel Performance
|Song: "Heaven Help Us All" (with Gladys Knight)
|-
|2004
|Grammy Award
|Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists
|Song: "Here We Go Again" (with Norah Jones)
|-
|2004
|Grammy Award
|Record of the Year
|Song: "Here We Go Again" (with Norah Jones)
|-
|2004
|Grammy Award
|Album of the Year
|Album: Genius Loves Company
|-
|2004
|Grammy Award
|Best Pop Vocal Album
|Album: Genius Loves Company
|-
|2004
|National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame
|Inductee
|Honored for achievements in entertainment
|-
|2005
|Grammy Awards Dedication
|Grammy Awards dedicated to Charles
|Tribute after his passing
|-
|2010
|Ray Charles Performing Arts Center
|Facility named at Morehouse College
|$20 million facility established for arts education
|-
|2013
|USPS Forever Stamp
|Part of the Musical Icons series
|Recognized as an American music icon
|-
|2013
|Rolling Stone
|No. 10 on "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"
|Recognized among music legends
|-
|2013
|Rolling Stone
|No. 2 on "100 Greatest Singers of All Time"
|Praised for vocal prowess and influence
|-
|2015
|Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame
|Inductee
|Honored for his influence on R&B music
|-
|2016
|"A Tribute to Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House"[https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-pbss-tribute-ray-charles-performance-the-white-house] [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ray-charles-returns-white-house-180958135/]
|Statement on "America the Beautiful" and performance by Usher "Georgia on My Mind"
|A Smithsonian Salute broadcast on PBS. Barack Obama praised his rendition as deeply patriotic
|-
|2022
|Country Music Hall of Fame
|Inductee (Posthumous)
|Third African-American inducted, honored for country influence
|}
thumb|upright|Star honoring Charles on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard]]
upright|thumb|Star honoring Charles on the Nayoya Walk of Fame in Japan
In 1975, Ray Charles was inducted into the American Academy of Achievement and presented with the Golden Plate Award and the Academy of Achievement gold medal.
In 1979, Charles was one of the first musicians born in the state to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His version of "Georgia on My Mind" was also made the official state song of the state of Georgia.
In 1981, Charles was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1986, Charles was one of the first inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony. He also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.
Charles won 17 Grammy Awards from his 37 nominations. The following year, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and was presented with the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement during the 1991 UCLA Spring Sing. Five years later, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize, together with Ravi Shankar, in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, Charles was inducted to the National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame. The Grammy Awards of 2005 were dedicated to him.
In 2001, Morehouse College honored Charles with the Candle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Entertainment, and later that same year granted him an honorary doctor of humane letters. Charles donated $2 million to Morehouse "to fund, educate and inspire the next generation of musical pioneers".
On September 22, 2004, Charles was honored with a Google Doodle on what would have been his 74th birthday. It was one of the first Doodles for someone's birthday.
In 2010, a $20 million, facility named the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building, opened at Morehouse.
The United States Postal Service issued a forever stamp honoring Charles, as part of its Musical Icons series, on September 23, 2013.
In 2015, Charles was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
In 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama wrote via his press secretary, "Ray Charles's version of 'America the Beautiful' will always be in my view the most patriotic piece of music ever performed."
In 2022, Charles was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the third African-American to be inducted after Charley Pride (2000) and Deford Bailey (2005). He was also the 13th person to be inducted into both the Country and Rock Halls of Fame.
Contribution to civil rights movement
On March 15, 1961, shortly after the release of the hit song "Georgia on My Mind" (1960), the Albany, Georgia-born musician was scheduled to perform at a dance at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, but cancelled the show after learning from students of Paine College that the larger auditorium dance floor was restricted to whites, while blacks would be obliged to sit in the Music Hall balcony. Charles left town immediately after letting the public know why he would not be 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 singers, the Raelettes, on October 23, 1963, as depicted in the 2004 film, Ray. On December 7, 2007, Ray Charles Plaza was opened in Albany, Georgia, with a revolving, lighted bronze sculpture of Charles seated at a piano.
The Ray Charles Foundation
thumb|Statue by 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. Originally known as 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 education. 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 allowed by law."
Recipients of donations include Benedict College, Morehouse College, and other universities. The foundation has taken action against donation recipients who do not use funds in accordance with its mission statement, such as the Albany State University, which was made to return a $3 million donation after not using the funds for over a decade. 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 first floor, which was founded on September 23, 2010 (what would have been his 80th birthday). The library was founded to "provide an avenue for young children to experience music and art in a way that will inspire their creativity and imagination", and is not open to the public without reservation, as the main goal is to educate mass groups of underprivileged youth and provide art and history to those without access to such documents.
Personal life
Charles stated in his 1978 autobiography, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story, that he became hooked on women after losing his virginity at 12 years old to a woman who was 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 then [when young] and does now. I can't leave them alone," he added.
Relationships and children
Charles was married twice. His first marriage lasted less than a year, his second 22 years. Throughout his life, Charles had many relationships with women, and he fathered a dozen children.
Charles was married to his first wife, Eileen Williams, from July 31, 1951, until sometime in 1952.
Charles met his second wife, Della Beatrice Howard Robinson (called "Bea" by Charles), in Texas in 1954. They married the following year, on April 5, 1955. Their first child, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., was born in 1955. Charles was not in town for the birth because he was playing a show in Texas. The couple had two more sons, David and Robert, and raised their children in View Park, California. Charles felt that his heroin addiction took a toll on Della during their marriage.
Charles had a six-year-long affair with Margie Hendrix, one of the original Raelettes, and in 1959 they had a son, Charles Wayne. His affair with Mae Mosley Lyles, another member of the Raelettes, resulted in a daughter, Renee, born in 1961. In 1963, Charles had another daughter, Sheila Raye Charles, by Sandra Jean Betts. Sheila Raye, like her father, was a singer-songwriter; she died of breast cancer on June 15, 2017. In 1977, Charles had a child with his Parisian lover, Arlette Kotchounian, whom he had met 10 years earlier. Charles's longtime girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.
Charles fathered a total of 12 children with nine different women:
- Evelyn Robinson, born in 1949 (daughter with Louise Flowers)
- Ray Charles Robinson Jr., born May 25, 1955 (son with wife Della Bea Robinson)
- David Robinson, born in 1958 (son with wife Della Bea Robinson)
- Charles Wayne Hendricks, born on October 1, 1959 (son with Margie Hendricks, one of the Raelettes)
Drug abuse and legal problems
At 18, Charles first tried marijuana when he played in McSon Trio and was eager to try it as he thought it helped musicians create music and tap into their creativity. He later became addicted to heroin for seventeen years.
Charles was arrested on a narcotics charge on November 14, 1961, while waiting in an Indiana hotel room before a performance. The detectives seized heroin, marijuana, and other items. 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 evidence was obtained, but Charles's situation did not improve until a few years later.
On Halloween 1964, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin at Boston's Logan Airport. He decided to quit heroin and entered St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood, California, where he endured four days of cold turkey withdrawal. Following his self-imposed stay, he pleaded guilty to four narcotic charges. Prosecutors called for two years in prison and a hefty fine, but the judge listened to Charles's psychiatrist, Dr. Hacker's account of Charles's determination to get off drugs and he was sent to McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. 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, four years of probation, and a fine of $10,000.
Chess hobby
Charles enjoyed playing chess. As part of his therapy when he quit heroin, he met with psychiatrist Friedrich Hacker, who taught him how to play chess. He used a special board with raised squares and holes for the pieces. When questioned if people try to cheat against a blind man, he joked in reply, "You can't cheat in Chess... I'm gonna see that!" In a 1991 concert, he referred to Willie Nelson as "my chess partner". In 2002, he played and lost to the American grandmaster and former U.S. champion Larry Evans. When Evans complimented him for spotting a tactical trap he had set, Charles replied "Come on man, I play bad, but not that bad!"
Death
In 2003, Charles had successful hip replacement surgery and was planning to go back on tour, until he began having other ailments. Charles died on June 10, 2004, at age 73, of complications resulting from liver failure at his home in Beverly Hills, California. His funeral was held at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles eight days later, with numerous musical figures in attendance. B. B. King, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder and Wynton Marsalis each played a tribute at the funeral.
Discography
Charles's discography is highly complex 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 least 20 record labels have released near-identical compilations of Charles's pre-Atlantic Records tracks, while many of the masters that Charles began to own after 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's discography a "monumental mess" and that "any map of his oeuvre must be personal and provisional".
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
| 1961
| Swingin' Along
| Himself
|
|-
| 1965
| Ballad in Blue
| Himself
|
|-
| 1966
| The Big T.N.T. Show
| Himself
| Documentary film
|-
| 1980
| The Blues Brothers
| Ray
| Cameo appearance
|-
| 1989
| Limit Up
| Julius
|
|-
| 1990
| Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones
| Himself
| Documentary
|-
| 1994
| Love Affair
| Himself
| Cameo appearance
|-
| 1996
| Spy Hard
| Bus Driver
| Cameo appearance
|-
| 1998
| New Yorkers 2
| Himself
| Cameo appearance
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2000
| The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave
| Himself
|
|-
| Blue's Big Musical Movie
| G-Clef (voice)
| First voice and final film role
|-
| 2004
| Ray
| Himself
| Uncredited<br />Archival footage
|-
| 2014
| Face of Unity
| Himself
| includes tributes to Nelson Mandela <br /> from President Barack Obama, Samuel L. Jackson, <br /> Ray Charles, and Morgan Freeman.
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
| 1977
| Saturday Night Live
| Himself (host)
| Season 3, Episode 5
|-
| 1977
| Sesame Street
| Himself
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1987
| Who's the Boss
| Himself
| Episode: "Hit the Road, 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
| 4 episodes
|-
| 1994
| Ray Alexander: A Taste for Justice
|
| Television movie
|-
| 1994
| Wings
| Himself
| Episode: "A Decent Proposal"
|-
| 1997–1998
| The Nanny
| Sammy
| 4 episodes
|}
See also
- Album era
- Progressive soul
Notes
References
External links
- Ray Charles Wife wiki
- Daily Telegraph obituary
- Oral history video excerpts at the National Visionary Leadership Project
- Country Music Hall of Fame
- Appearance at WFOY Radio building