Ray Charles Biography Quotes 16 Report mistakes

Early Life and Blindness
Ray Charles, born Ray Charles Robinson in 1930 in Albany, Georgia, was raised in rural poverty in the small community of Greenville, Florida. His mother, Aretha Robinson, became the moral center of his life, pressing him to be self-reliant and to pursue the skills that would let him navigate a world not designed for him. His father, Bailey Robinson, was largely absent. A devastating childhood memory was the accidental drowning of his younger brother, a trauma that weighed on him for decades. Around the same time, Ray began losing his sight. By age seven he was fully blind, most likely from glaucoma. Aretha ensured he attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, where he learned Braille, studied classical music, and developed the keyboard technique that would underpin his career. Even as he mastered Bach and Mozart, he was drawn to the blues and swing he heard in Florida juke joints.

Finding a Voice
After his mother died while he was still a teenager, Ray set out on his own. He shortened his name to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and began performing in dance halls and small clubs. Influenced early by Nat King Cole and Charles Brown, he initially sang and played in their mellow, urbane style. A move to Seattle in the late 1940s proved formative: he formed a trio and met a teenaged Quincy Jones, forging a friendship that would last a lifetime. Early regional records established him as a gifted pianist and bandleader, and he soon headed to Los Angeles as his bookings and ambitions grew.

Atlantic Records and the Birth of Soul
Ray Charles's breakthrough came in the 1950s after signing with Atlantic Records, where producers and executives such as Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler encouraged him to sound like himself rather than anyone else. The result was a revolutionary blend of gospel fervor and blues feeling set to a driving rhythm-and-blues backbeat. Hits such as I Got a Woman, Hallelujah I Love Her So, and What'd I Say announced a new musical language that would be labeled soul. His road band, featuring saxophonists like David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford, and his backing singers the Raelettes, gave his performances bite and polish. Margie Hendricks, a standout Raelette, contributed unforgettable call-and-response passages and shared the microphone with Ray on records and tours, shaping the sound that filled theaters and dance halls nationwide.

Creative Control and Crossover Triumphs
In 1959, Ray Charles left Atlantic for ABC-Paramount in a landmark deal that granted him artistic control and ownership of his master recordings, a rare achievement for any recording artist of the era. Working closely with arranger and producer Sid Feller, he surprised audiences by steering into jazz-inflected pop and, most iconically, country music. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel reframed country standards with string and horn arrangements, yielding massive pop hits, none more emblematic than his stately rendition of Georgia on My Mind, which he transformed into an anthem. He continued to score with Unchain My Heart, Hit the Road Jack, and Busted, proving that sophisticated arrangements could coexist with raw, church-steeped vocals. During these years he appeared on television specials and toured relentlessly with an integrated orchestra, a statement in itself.

Principles, Struggles, and Renewal
Ray Charles's success did not insulate him from America's racial reality. He refused to perform for segregated audiences in the South, including a high-profile standoff in Georgia that led to a temporary ban and later public contrition from state officials. He also faced a long struggle with heroin addiction that had begun in his early touring days. Arrests and court-mandated treatment in the 1960s forced him to confront the habit. He detoxed, restructured his life on the road, and returned to the studio with renewed focus. His manager Joe Adams, who became a close and constant presence, helped professionalize Ray's business operations, preserving his health and catalog for the long term.

Personal Life
Charles's personal life was complex. He married twice, first to Eileen Williams and later to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, and he had a large family. His relationships often intertwined with his music, particularly with singers in his circle, and he maintained deep friendships with colleagues. Through success and conflict he retained the values instilled by Aretha Robinson: self-sufficiency, discipline, and an insistence on doing things his own way.

Later Career, Collaborations, and Screen Presence
From the 1970s onward, Charles toured globally, fronting a big band that showcased his love of jazz and blues while he refreshed his repertoire with contemporary material. He appeared memorably on screen, including a beloved cameo in The Blues Brothers, where his comic timing matched his musical authority. He recorded with peers and admirers across genres, collaborating with artists such as Willie Nelson and B.B. King and trading phrases with younger stars who had grown up under his spell. In his final years he returned to the duet format with renewed vigor, cutting sessions with singers and instrumentalists including Norah Jones and Elton John that demonstrated how effortlessly his voice could cushion, prod, and lift a partner.

Philanthropy and Business Acumen
Having negotiated ownership of his master recordings and secured favorable royalties, Charles built a rare level of economic independence. He invested in his publishing and in the infrastructure around his music, with Joe Adams helping modernize his operations. He also established a foundation that supported education and health-related causes, including programs connected to sensory impairments, channeling his success toward opportunities for others.

Death and Legacy
Ray Charles died in 2004 in California, after more than half a century of shaping American music. By then he had earned widespread honors, including numerous Grammy Awards and induction into major halls of fame, and the nickname The Genius had become both brand and truth. His synthesis of gospel, blues, jazz, country, and pop permanently altered the sound of the 20th century, modeling a form of artistic freedom that crossed musical and social borders. The people who surrounded him at pivotal moments, Aretha Robinson's unbending guidance, Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler's faith in his originality, Sid Feller's studio craftsmanship, Margie Hendricks's fiery exchanges onstage, Quincy Jones's enduring friendship, and Joe Adams's managerial stewardship, trace the human network that amplified his singular gifts. The records remain the final testimony: a voice both jubilant and wounded, a piano that dances and preaches, and a body of work that still teaches singers and players how to tell the truth.

Our collection contains 16 quotes who is written by Ray, under the main topics: Music - Live in the Moment - Deep - Equality - Success.

Other people realated to Ray: John Belushi (Comedian), Ruth Brown (Musician), Willie Nelson (Musician), Billy Joel (Musician), Van Morrison (Musician), Benmont Tench (Musician), Billy Preston (Musician), Al Jarreau (Musician), Perry Como (Musician), Alan Price (Musician)