Ray Charles

Ray Charles Brief Biography

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and composer known as Ray Charles. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles "the only true genius in show business," although Charles downplayed this notion.

The influences upon his music were mainly jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and country artists of the day such as Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, and Louis Armstrong. His playing reflected influences from country blues, barrelhouse and stride piano styles.

Full Ray Charles Biography

Ray Charles News

• The Almanac for September 23, the 266th day of 2019
• The Almanac for June 10, the 161st day of 2019
• 'American Idol' judges decide Season 17's Top 20 singers -- including Laine Hardy, Alyssa Raghu and Evelyn Cormier!
• 'The Voice' recap: Eleven more artists advance to Battle Round including Shawn Sounds, Mari and Ciera Dumas!

More Ray Charles News

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ray_Charles" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

POPULAR MOVIES (24)

POPULAR TV SHOWS (24)

POPULAR PEOPLE (24)

Show Updates People News Spoiler News Entertainment News RealityTVDB POP Hollywood Reality TV News Wire
Features & Interviews Sexy Social Pics of the Day Things to Know Profiles Message Boards Shows Listing