Ray Charles

[Airbourned1]

I just heard that he died, it's too bad, he was and is a musical inspiration.

[Budderfly]

I heard that at work too. That's really sad cause we was a genius.

Gonna go watch Blues Brothers in memory of him. 8)

Ray Charles, Pioneer of Soul Music, Dies at Age 73 (Update2)
June 10 (Bloomberg (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a_gLnWem1SJk&refer=us)) -- Ray Charles, the blind musician who pioneered soul music by blending gospel and blues, has died. He was 73.

Charles died of complications from liver disease today at his home in Beverly Hills, said Eric Raymond, a spokesman for his publicist, Solters & Digney, in Los Angeles.

The world-famous ``genius of soul'' had been sidelined since last year by a hip ailment and underwent hip-replacement surgery in November. It was then that doctors discovered he also was suffering from liver disease, according to Raymond. Charles's last public appearance was on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated his music studios a historic landmark.

When he celebrated his 73rd birthday last September at his studios, Charles was feted with a cake in the shape of a piano, and joined by longtime friends Quincy Jones and Willie Nelson.

President George W. Bush was among those extending birthday wishes, telling Charles: ``Your extraordinary life has been great in accomplishments. God bless you.''

Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and won 13 Grammy Awards. His best-selling songs included ``Georgia on My Mind,'' ``Ruby,'' ``Hit the Road Jack,'' ``I Can't Stop Loving You,'' ``You Don't Know Me,'' ``What'd I Say'' and a stirring rendition of ``America the Beautiful.''

Before his death, Charles completed a duets album, called ``Genius Loves Company,'' with Nelson, Norah Jones, BB King, Bonnie Raitt, Gladys Knight and Johnny Mathis.

He was born Ray Charles Robinson on Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, the first child of Aretha and Baily Robinson. His father was a mechanic and a handyman; his mother worked at a sawmill. They moved to Greenville, Florida, when he was an infant.

It was the height of the Depression and Charles recalled how poor his family was in his 1978 autobiography, ``Brother Ray'':

``Even compared to other blacks...we were on the bottom of the ladder looking up at everyone else. Nothing below us except the ground.''

Charles contracted glaucoma at the age of six, and it eventually left him blind.

He studied music composition and learned to play several musical instruments, including the piano and the saxophone, while spending nine years at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind. Charles learned to read and write music in Braille.

When his mother died in 1946, Charles traveled throughout the South, playing with a variety of bands at dance halls. He moved to Seattle in 1948 where he formed the McSon trio.

Charles dropped Robinson from his name so he wouldn't be mistaken for the boxer ``Sugar'' Ray Robinson.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1950 and signed with the Swingtime record label. His contract was purchased by Atlantic Records in 1952. He formed his own band in 1954, and started to combine the different music styles he had learned: gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz.

In 1955, he had his first rhythm and blues hit, ``I Got a Woman.

Charles was signed to the ABC-Paramount label in 1960, and had his first pop chart No. 1 with ``Georgia On My Mind.''

In 1961, he won four Grammy Awards, including two for his vocal performance on ``Georgia'' and his album ``The Genius of Ray Charles.'' In 1962, Charles was at the top of rhythm and blues charts with ``Unchain My Heart.''

His ``Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music'' album combined country, pop and blues, and was at the top of Billboard's Top 200 chart for 14 weeks.

His song ``I Can't Stop Loving You,'' which won a Grammy in 1963, was No. 1 on the rhythm and blues charts for 10 weeks.

Charles was given another Grammy in 1963 for the best rhythm and blues recording for ``Busted.'' He was arrested for heroin use in the 1960s, though never served time in jail. He kicked the habit in 1965 when faced with a federal narcotics charge.

He returned to popularity in 1966 with the hits ``Crying Time'' and ``Let's Get Stoned.'' His last Grammy was in 1993 for ``A Song for You.''

Charles's survivors include a former wife, Della Robinson, and 11 children, Raymond said.

``Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead,'' Charles told the Washington Post in 1983. ``I just wasn't to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal.''

[J.Rai]

Yup, I saw that on MSN this morning, it's a true loss to music, but luckily he gets the recognition he deserves and his many recordings will live on.
__________________
J.Rai
Respect.