Ray Charles

He was married twice and had many girlfriends. He had 12 children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Blind from glaucoma since age 6.

Hired for a car commercial, he actually drove a car without assistance - in the Death Valley desert. He said that it was one of the most exciting experiences of his life.

(December 1999) He was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by Wilberforce University, a private, historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio.

He was awarded the Polar Music Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Award, in 1998.

His best known hit in America was his 1962 pop hit "I Cant Stop Loving You", which spent five weeks at #1 on Billboards Hot 100 charts.

He was one of the few black performers to have a #1 song on Billboard magazines country charts, a 1985 duet with Willie Nelson called "Seven Spanish Angels".

Inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982.

Underwent hip replacement surgery in Los Angeles, California on November 24, 2003.

He struggled with a heroin addiction for nearly 20 years before quitting cold turkey in 1965 after an arrest at the Boston airport.

Dropped the "Robinson" from his name as a young performer to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Had a hip replacement in the fall of 2003 in which he had to cancel his very first concert in 53 years of performing on the road.

Had three #1 pop hits with "Georgia on My Mind" , "Hit the Road Jack" and "I Cant Stop Loving You".

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 as part of the institutions inaugural 10-member class that included Elvis Presley , Chuck Berry , James Brown and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also received the Recording Academys lifetime achievement award at the 1987 Grammy Awards.

Despite his blindness, he was a chess-playing fanatic who was known to set up games between sets and concerts.

At the time of his death, a feature film originally titled "Unchain My Heart, the Ray Charles Story" (renamed for release as Ray ), starring Jamie Foxx , was being completed.

He inspired many blind musicians to pursue careers, such as Ronnie Milsap and Terri Gibbs.

He was voted the 10th Greatest Rock n Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.

Became the big winner at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, receiving eight Grammy Awards for his final album, "Genius Loves Company" (which won for Album of the Year), and his song "Here We Go Again", featuring Norah Jones (which won Record of the Year).

Had 12 children: Ray Charles Robinson Jr. , David Robinson, Robert Robinson (all with Della Bea Robinson ), Charles Wayne Hendricks (with Margie Hendricks , one of The Raelettes ), Reatha Butler, Alexandra Bertrand (daughter of Mary-Chantal Bertrand ), Robyn Moffett (daughter of Gloria Moffett), Evelyn Robinson (daughter of Louise Mitchell), Raenee Robinson (daughter of Mae Mosely Lyles), Sheila Robinson (daughter of Sandra Jean Betts), Vincent Kotchounian (son of Arlette Kotchounian) and Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok (son of Mary Anne den Bok).

He was a longtime supporter of Israel, and was named "Man of the Year" by the Bnai Brith in 1976.

Performed at Ronald Reagan s second inauguration in 1985 and also at Bill Clinton s first inauguration in 1993.

(February 2005) Legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives to award him the Congressional Gold Medal.

Was an admirer of singer Nat King Cole and even imitated his style in his early performances, which guaranteed him continued work before perfecting his own style.

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1993 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.

He was one of the first singers to own his own master recordings and founder of Tangerine Records (1962-73).

He was the first artist to combine both rhythm and blues and gospel together.

Not to be confused with the choral director, Ray Charles , of The Ray Charles Singers on "The Perry Como Show" (1955-1963). Ray actually performed, with The Ray Charles Singers as his chorus, along with "The Raelettes", on three episodes of "The Perry Como Show" from 1958-1961. "Whatd I Say" was one of the songs performed. and that 1961 performance can be seen on the US Public Television Special, "Aretha Franklin Presents Soul Rewind".

In 1981, he was heavily criticized for touring apartheid South Africa.

Ranked the second greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll in 2008.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 16, 1981.

Pictured on a nondenominated ("forever") USA commemorative postage stamp in the Music Icons series, issued 23 September 2013. Price on day of issue was 46. First-day-of-issue ceremonies were held in Los Angeles, California and Atlanta, Georgia.

His very last recording is reportedly the Grammy-nominated "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," a duet with its writer Elton John from the album "Genius Loves Company".

Was portrayed by Jamie Foxx in the 2004 film "Ray".

Born on the same day as rock & roll singer Bruce Springsteen, and actor Jason Alexander.

Together with Julia Rinker Miller, sang the theme song of the television series "Threes Company" ("Come and Knock on Our Door").

Director of The Ray Charles Singers.

Ray Charles was best known for his long association with Perry Como, the smooth baritone who hosted a popular variety show on NBC in the 1950s and 60s. Charles and his singers not only backed Como on the show and 31 albums but accompanied him on tour. It was Como who introduced the group on the program as the Ray Charles Singers, and the name stuck. The Ray Charles Singers recorded more than 30 albums for the Essex, MGM, Decca and Command labels. They made the top 100 about a dozen times between 1955 and 1970 with such hits as "Love Me With All Your Heart" and "Al-Di-La." Charles choral style raised hackles in the studio when he began recording in the 1950s. The sound engineer told Charles that the groups soft, whispering tones would be obliterated by surface noise on the record. "I told him that was his problem," Charles said in Joseph Lanzas book "Elevator Music; A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Mood-song". "My whole theory of singing," he said in the book, "is that you were singing to someone no more than two feet away, like a lover".

Former "Perry Como Kraft Music Hall Show" television program producer Nick Vanoff moved his production team to Hollywood in mid 1963 to produce, (video-taped banked in color at NBC-Burbank, August 1963, airing in the Spring, 15 February 1964), the CBS TV color special "The Bing Crosby Special" hosted by Crosby, featuring musical guest performers Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, Bob Hope, Kathryn Grant, Peter Gennaro and Frank Sinatra). Nick Vanoff brought Ray Charles with him. ABC Television canceled their Saturday Night variety "Jerry Lewis Show" in December of 1963, replacing the Saturday night hour variety show with "The Hollywood Palace" -- which was ABCs prestigious answer to CBS Sunday nights "The Ed Sullivan Show." Ray Charles remained on the West Coast with Vanoffs production team producing the "Hollywood Palace" series from 1963 through to the end of the series, canceled by ABC TV in January 1971. Ray Charles musical contributions included special arrangements, choral transcriptions and special new music during the seven years the variety show was in production.

Ray Charles name often caused confusion despite obvious differences from the black, blind soul singer. Once during the Reagan administration, the white Charles was invited to join the line of Kennedy Center Honors guests allowed to meet the president. When Reagan was handed a card with Charles name on it, he did a double-take and quipped, "I didnt know you came in two colors." In a 1986 Muppets special, which featured the black Charles in archival footage, the music credits make a teasing reference to the identity confusion, calling the choral director-composer "The Other Ray Charles." Charles met the other Ray on a TV assignment and persuaded him to sing "America the Beautiful" on the Glenn Campbell show, more than a decade before the soul icons stirring rendition of the song at the 1984 Republican National Convention.

During his stint on the Perry Como show, which aired from 1949 to 1963, he was asked to set the names of all 50 states to music. The result was "Fifty Nifty United States," which has been memorized by several generations of school children. (A number of on-line sources provide the lyrics along with an image of the wrong Ray Charles.) Charles also led his Ray Charles Singers in many TV commercials for products including Lipton Tea, Lucky Strike and Chesterfield cigarettes, and Cover Girl cosmetics.

In 1971, Charles won EMMYs for music and lyrics for two television shows, "The First Nine Months Are the Hardest" and "The Funny Side." Charles wound up singing the "Threes Company" theme song (with Julia Rinker Miller) by accident. He was asked to teach the tune ("Come and knock on our door, Weve been waiting for you...") to the shows stars -- John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce De Witt -- but their efforts after an hours practice were not promising. Asked by the producers how the trio was doing, Charles was tactful. "I said, Im not sure," he recalled in 2008. "They said, Well, we are. We like the way you sing it. And thats how I got it.".

During a career that spanned radio, television, films and records, Ray Charles was known for his ability to create melodies and meld voices in an intimate, easy-listening style that was well-suited to television musical revues of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Charles arranged and composed music for such television shows as "Your Hit Parade," "Perry Comas Kraft Music Show," "Sha-Na-Na," "The Hollywood Palace," "The Glenn Cambell Goodtime Hour" and "The Muppett Show," and worked with Sid Caesar, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and other musical star-personalities. Known as an authority on American popular music, Ray Charles also was a consultant for "The Kennedy Center Honors" for 31 years.

Born Charles Raymond Offenberg in Chicago on September 13, 1918, Charles won a radio singing contest at 13 and had his own 15-minute program by 16. He went on to study at Chicago Musical College and Central YMCA College. He moved to New York in 1942 and began working in radio. Although he had been calling himself Ray Charles (an inversion of the name of a famous silent movie idol, Charles Ray) since high school, he did not legally change his name until 1944.

It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.

Learning to read music in Braille & play by ear helped me develop a [very] good memory.

I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great.

I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me - like food or water.

Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor.

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.