He added, “I’m talkin’ about America” and “I love America, and you should too,” and “Sweet America,” all passionate accents that indelibly marked the song as a personal tribute to the country he loved so much. In live performances he followed a consistent pattern, of improvisations we associate with gospel and soul music. It exceeds all others in its ability to lift our collective spirits. One his warmest compliments came from the “Chairman of the Board” Frank Sinatra, who gave him the name “Genius” “the only true Genius in show business.”Īmerica the Beautiful: Of All the hundreds of songs he recorded, Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” remains to this day the definitive version of that song. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #10 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and #2 on their list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” And in 2013 Ray Charles even received a United States Postal Stamp. The King and Queen of Sweden chose him to receive the Polar Music Award, which is that country’s most prestigious award. Heads of State, Presidents, Political Dignitaries and members of Royal families have recognized him repeatedly. His numerous awards include 8 honorary doctoral degrees, 17 GRAMMYs, the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award, President’s Merit Award, Kennedy Center Honors, National Medal of the Arts and his Playboy Awards. In the decades after Seattle, Ray Charles continued his contributions to the many facets of music in which he excelled. The Music: Ray often said, “I was born with music inside me. In 1947, with $600 he moved to Seattle and worked as a Nat “King” Cole-style crooner. His father died when he was 10, his mother five years later, and he left school to work in dance bands around Florida, dropping his last name to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind from 1937 to 1945. He studied composition (writing music in Braille) and learned to play the alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and organ while attending the St. At age six, he contracted glaucoma that eventually left him blind. The Man: Ray Charles was a legendary musician often called the "Genius,” who pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s.Ĭharles combined blues, gospel, R&B, rock, country music and jazz to create groundbreaking hits such as “Unchain My Heart,” “I’ve Got A Woman” and “What I’d Say.” His impressive multi-award winning 50-year career left an indelible mark on contemporary music all over the world.īorn Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, he was raised in Greenville, Florida, and started playing the piano before he was five.
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