Ray Charles: The Genius!

Ray Charles, whose real name is Ray Charles Robinson, was, according to Frank Sinatra, “the only genius in the business”, meaning he was a great American soul musician and pianist, who marked the rhythm & blues.  In addition, he spiced a wide diversity of sounds ranging from country to pop music.  He was born on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia.  His childhood was not very pleasant since he saw his younger brother drown and, at the age of 7, he became completely blind.  Nevertheless, he learned about writing music as well as how to play several musical instruments stunningly.

Thus, Ray Charles started playing jazz and country music when he was an adolescent, and in 1951, he released his first hit titled “Baby, Let me Hold your Hand” for the label Swingtime Records.  Later on, around the decade of the 50’s and early 60’s, Charles started getting immersed in the gospel music as well as blues ballads.  Some time after, he moved to another record label called ABC Records.  At the beginning of the 60’s, his singles “Hit the Road, Jack” and “Georgia on My Mind” reached #1 on Billboard pop charts.  One year later, he launched his singular album called Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.

Mainly in the decade of 1970, he made many important performances that caused him to get even more famous, including Saturday Night Live and The Cosby Show.  Nevertheless, in 1996, Ray also played on the Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies in Atlanta, Georgia.  In 2003, he made one of his last performances on the annual electronic media journalist banquet in Washington D.C., and June 11, 2004, he died when he was 73 years old.