Ray charles biography and pictures

In his early years, Charles showed an interest in mechanical objects and often watched his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. His musical curiosity was sparked at Wylie Pitman's Red Wing Cafe, at the age of three, when Pitman played boogie woogie on an old upright piano ; Pitman subsequently taught Charles how to play the piano.

Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe and even lived there when they were in financial distress. George accidentally drowned in his mother's laundry tub when he was four years old. Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four [ 3 ] or five, [ 19 ] and was blind by the age of seven, likely as a result of glaucoma.

Destitute, uneducated, and mourning the loss of her younger son, Aretha Robinson used her connections in the local community to find a school that would accept a blind African-American pupil. Augustine from to Charles further developed his musical talent at school [ 20 ] and was taught to play the classical piano music of Bach , Mozart and Beethoven.

His teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, taught him how to use braille music , a difficult process that requires learning the left hand movements by reading braille with the right hand and learning the right hand movements by reading braille with the left hand, then combining the two parts. Charles' mother died in the spring of , when he was Her death came as a shock to him; he later said the deaths of his brother and mother were "the two great tragedies" of his life.

Charles decided not to return to school after the funeral. After leaving school, Charles moved to Jacksonville to live with Charles Wayne Powell, who had been friends with his late mother. He joined Local of the American Federation of Musicians , in the hope that it would help him get work, [ 23 ] and was able to use the union hall's piano to practice, since he did not have one at home; he learned piano licks from copying the other players there.

In , Charles moved to Tampa , where he held two jobs, including one as a pianist for Charles Brantley's Honey Dippers. In his early career, Charles modeled himself on Nat King Cole. Charles had always played piano for other people, but he was keen to have his own band. He decided to leave Florida for a large city, and, considering Chicago and New York City too big, followed his friend Gossie McKee to Seattle , Washington, in March , knowing that the biggest radio hits came from northern cities.

In , Charles' performance in a Miami hotel impressed Henry Stone , who went on to record a Ray Charles Rockin' record, which did not achieve popularity. During his stay in Miami, Charles was required to stay in the segregated but thriving black community of Overtown. Stone later helped Jerry Wexler find Charles in St. Late in , Charles recorded " I've Got a Woman ".

The lyrics were written by bandleader Renald Richard. Charles claimed the composition.

Ray charles biography and pictures

It became one of his most notable hits, reaching No. Charles also recorded jazz, such as The Great Ray Charles By , he was not only headlining major black venues such as the Apollo Theater in New York, but also larger venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival , where his first live album was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.

Charles reached the pinnacle of his success at Atlantic with the release of "What'd I Say", which combined gospel, jazz, blues and Latin music. Charles said he wrote it spontaneously while he was performing in clubs with his band. Despite some radio stations banning the song because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, the song became Charles' first top-ten pop record.

It reached No. Charles' contract with Atlantic expired in , and several big labels offered him record deals. Written by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael in , the song was Charles' first work with Sid Feller , who produced, arranged and conducted the recording. By late , Charles had expanded his small road ensemble to a big band , partly as a response to increasing royalties and touring fees, becoming one of the few black artists to cross over into mainstream pop with such a level of creative control.

The case was eventually dropped, as the search lacked a proper warrant by the police, and Charles soon returned to music. In the early s, on the way from Louisiana to Oklahoma City , Charles faced a near-death experience when the pilot of his plane lost visibility, as snow and his failure to use the defroster caused the windshield of the plane to become completely covered in ice.

The pilot made a few circles in the air before he was finally able to see through a small part of the windshield and land the plane. Charles placed a spiritual interpretation on the experience, claiming that "something or someone which instruments cannot detect" was responsible for creating the small opening in the ice on the windshield which enabled the pilot to eventually land the plane safely.

In , Charles' career was halted once more after he was arrested for a third time for possession of heroin. In , he had a top-twenty hit with another ballad, " Here We Go Again ". Charles' renewed chart success, however, proved to be short lived, and by the s his music was rarely played on radio stations. Charles nonetheless continued to have an active recording career.

Most of his recordings between and evoked strong reactions: either adored or panned by fans and critics alike. Charles was often criticized for his version of "America the Beautiful" because it was very drastically changed from the song's original version. The official cause of her death is unknown. In , he reunited with Ahmet Ertegun and re-signed to Atlantic Records, for which he recorded the album True to Life , remaining with his old label until However, the label had now begun to focus on rock acts, and some of their prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin , were starting to be neglected.

In April , his version of "Georgia on My Mind" was proclaimed the state song of Georgia, and an emotional Charles performed the song on the floor of the state legislature. In Charles performed in the musical film The Blues Brothers. He later defended his choice of performing there, insisting that the audience of black and white fans would integrate while he was there.

In , Charles signed a contract with Columbia. He recorded a string of country albums and had hit singles in duets with singers such as George Jones , Chet Atkins , B. Prior to this, Charles returned to the pop charts with " Baby Grand ", a duet with singer-songwriter Billy Joel. In —02, Charles appeared in commercials for the New Jersey Lottery to promote its campaign "For every dream, there's a jackpot.

In , Charles performed "Georgia on My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual banquet of electronic media journalists held in Washington, D. His final public appearance was on April 30, , at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles. Charles possessed one of the most recognizable voices in American music.

In the words of musicologist Henry Pleasants :. Sinatra, and Bing Crosby before him, had been masters of words. Ray Charles is a master of sounds. His records disclose an extraordinary assortment of slurs, glides, turns, shrieks, wails, breaks, shouts, screams and hollers, all wonderfully controlled, disciplined by inspired musicianship, and harnessed to ingenious subtleties of harmony, dynamics and rhythm It is either the singing of a man whose vocabulary is inadequate to express what is in his heart and mind or of one whose feelings are too intense for satisfactory verbal or conventionally melodic articulation.

He can't tell it to you. He can't even sing it to you. He has to cry out to you, or shout to you, in tones eloquent of despair—or exaltation. The voice alone, with little assistance from the text or the notated music, conveys the message. Pleasants continues, "Ray Charles is usually described as a baritone, and his speaking voice would suggest as much, as would the difficulty he experiences in reaching and sustaining the baritone's high E and F in a popular ballad.

But the voice undergoes some sort of transfiguration under stress, and in music of gospel or blues character he can and does sing for measures on end in the high tenor range of A, B flat, B, C and even C sharp and D, sometimes in full voice, sometimes in an ecstatic head voice, sometimes in falsetto. In falsetto he continues up to E and F above high C.

On one extraordinary record, 'I'm Going Down to the River' His style and success in the genres of rhythm and blues and jazz had an influence on a number of highly successful artists, including, as Jon Pareles has noted, Elvis Presley , Aretha Franklin , Stevie Wonder , Van Morrison , and Billy Joel. In the middle of the night with friends, we were listening to jazz.

Then I thought 'One day, if I make some people feel only one-twentieth of what I am feeling now, it will be quite enough for me. Ray , a biopic portraying his life and career between the mids and , was released in October , starring Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. In , Charles was one of the first musicians born in the state to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

In , he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Charles won 17 Grammy Awards from his 37 nominations. In , he was given an honorary doctorate of fine arts by the University of South Florida. In , he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In , Morehouse College honored Charles with the Candle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Entertainment, [ 72 ] and later that same year granted him an honorary doctor of humane letters.

In , Charles was awarded an honorary degree by Dillard University , and upon his death he endowed a professorship of African-American culinary history at the school, the first such chair in the nation. On September 22, , Ray Charles was honored with a Google Doodle on what would have been his 74th birthday. In , U. President Barack Obama wrote via his press secretary, "Ray Charles's version of " America the Beautiful " will always be in my view the most patriotic piece of music ever performed.

He was also the 13th person to be inducted into both the Country and Rock Halls of Fame. On March 15, , shortly after the release of the hit song "Georgia on My Mind" , the Albany, Georgia -born musician was scheduled to perform at a dance at Bell Auditorium in Augusta , but cancelled the show after learning from students of Paine College that the larger auditorium dance floor was restricted to whites, while blacks would be obliged to sit in the Music Hall balcony.

The following year, Charles did perform at a desegregated Bell Auditorium concert together with his backup singers, the Raelettes , on October 23, , as depicted in the film, Ray. Founded in , the Ray Charles Foundation maintains the mission statement of financially supporting institutions and organizations in the research of hearing disorders.

Recipients of donations include Benedict College , Morehouse College , and other universities. The library was founded to "provide an avenue for young children to experience music and art in a way that will inspire their creativity and imagination", and is not open to the public without reservation, as the main goal is to educate mass groups of underprivileged youth and provide art and history to those without access to such documents.

Charles stated in his autobiography, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story , that he became hooked on women after losing his virginity at 12 years old to a woman about You might add women," he said. I can't leave them alone," he added. Charles was married twice. His first marriage lasted less than a year, his second 22 years. Throughout his life, Charles had many relationships with women, and he fathered a dozen children.

Charles was married to his first wife, Eileen Williams, from July 31, until sometime in They married the following year, on April 5, Their first child, Ray Charles Robinson Jr. Charles was not in town for the birth because he was playing a show in Texas. The couple had two more sons, David and Robert. They raised their children in View Park, California.

Charles had a six-year-long affair with Margie Hendrix , one of the original Raelettes, and in they had a son, Charles Wayne. His affair with Mae Mosley Lyles resulted in a daughter, Renee, born in Sheila Raye, like her father, was a singer-songwriter; she died of breast cancer on June 15, Charles fathered a total of 12 children with 10 different women: [ 99 ].

Charles held a family luncheon for his 12 children in , 10 of whom attended. Ray Charles rests before a show, Ray Charles -- without his trademark sunglasses -- rests before a show, Ray Charles before a show, Ray Charles, with arms outstretched, during performance at Carnegie Hall, Ray Charles at Carnegie Hall, Ray Charles and his sons on his tour bus, To light his cigarette, Charles feels the flame to guide it.

Ray Charles resting before a show, Read more. Latest headlines. Looking for someone? Please read our privacy policy. Page generated in 0. While that operation was successful, Charles soon learned he was suffering from liver disease. He died on June 10, , at his home in Beverly Hills, California. During his lifetime, Charles recorded more than 60 albums and performed more than 10, concerts.

Longtime friend Jones was just one of many who mourned the passing of Charles. Well, I would give that nickel back to have him still be here with us, but I know that heaven has become a much better place with him in it. King, Willie Nelson and Stevie Wonder were among those who performed at the service. Charles's final album, Genius Loves Company , released two months after his death, consists of duets with various admirers and contemporaries.

His life story became a hit film entitled Ray later that year. Jamie Foxx starred as the legendary performer, and he won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Charles. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists.

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