Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1930-09-23
Day of Death
2004-06-10
Place of Birth
Albany, Georgia, USA
Ray Charles
Biography
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. 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.” Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"
Filmography (81)
Quincy Jones, Music Man
2025
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
2025
Merci Dorothée !
2025
The Greatest Night in Pop
2024
They All Came Out to Montreux
2023
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan
2023
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
2023Piano Greats at the BBC
2022
2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
2022
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
2022
Rat Pack
2022
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres
2021
Face of Unity
2014Jazzline - Ray Charles & Orchestra
2012
