Ray Charles

Ray Charles (September 23, 1930 June 10, 2004) was an American musician. Charles was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel ^{gospel music} , and blues styles into his early recordings for Atlantic Records. and voted him number two on their November 2008 list of "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

  'Ray Charles Robinson' was the son of Aretha Williams, a sharecropper, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman.

Two more posthumous albums, Genius & Friends (2005) and Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006), were released.
Genius & Friends consisted of duets recorded from 1997 to 2005 with his choice of artists. Ray Sings, Basie Swings consists of archived vocals of Ray Charles from live mid-1970s performances added to new instrumental tracks specially recorded by the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra and other musicians. Charles's vocals recorded from the concert mixing board were added to new accompaniments to create a "fantasy concert" recording. Gregg Field, who had performed as a drummer with both Charles and Basie, produced the album.


Personal life

Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children by nine different women. His first marriage to Eileen Williams was brief: July 31, 1951 to 1952. He had three children from his second marriage, to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson from April 5, 1955 to 1977. His long term girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.

His children:
* Born ~ 1950: Evelyn Robinson (to Louise Mitchell)
* Born ~ 1955: Ray Charles Robinson, Jr. (to Della Robinson)
* Born ~ 1958: David Robinson (to Della Robinson)
* Born ~ 1959: Charles Wayne Hendricks (to Margie Hendricks)
* Born ~ 1960: Reverend Robert Robinson (to Della Robinson)
* Born ~ 1961: Raenee Robinson (to Mae Mosely Lyles)
* Born ~ 1963: Sheila Raye Charles Robinson (to Sandra Jean Betts)
* Born ~ 196?: Reatha Butler (unknown)
* Born ~ 196?: Alexandria Bertrand (to Chantelle Bertrand)
* Born ~ 1977: Vincent Kotchounian (to Arlette Kotchounian)
* Born ~ 1978: Robyn Moffett (to Gloria Moffett)
* Born ~ 1987: Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok (to Mary Anne den Bok)

Charles gave each of his children $1 million (tax-free) in December 2002 at a family lunch. Ten of his 12 children were given a check for $1,000,000 at the luncheon, while two couldn't make it.


Chess

Chess was a hobby of his, using a special board with holes for the pieces and raised squares.: See Ray Charles discography*Swingin' Along (1961 ^{1961 in film} )
*Ballad in Blue (1964 ^{1964 in film} )
*The Big T.N.T. Show (1966 ^{1966 in film} ) (documentary)
*The Blues Brothers ^{The Blues Brothers (film)} (1980 ^{1980 in film} )
*Limit Up (1989 ^{1989 in film} )
*Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990 ^{1990 in film} ) (documentary)
*The Nanny (Sammy)
*Love Affair ^{Love Affair (1994 film)} (1994 ^{1994 in film} )
*Spy Hard (1996 ^{1996 in film} )
*Adv. Super Dave (2000 ^{2000 in film} )
*Soul DeepCharles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray ^{Ray (film)} , an October 2004 film ^{2004 in film} which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 ^{77th Academy Awards} Academy Award ^{Academy Awards} for Best Actor for the role.

Before shooting could begin, director Taylor ***ford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who insisted that they sit down at two pianos and play together. After two hours, he stood up, hugged Foxx, and gave his blessing, proclaiming, "He's the one... he can do it." Charles was expected to attend a showing of the completed film, but died before it opened. The movie is the all-time number one biopic per screen average, opening on 2006 screens and making 20 million dollars.

As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes". One example of the film's use of dramatic license ^{Artistic license} are the scenes which refer to Charles as being temporarily banned from performing in Georgia ^{Georgia (U.S. state)} .

The film's credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren as of the movie release in October 2004.In 1979, he was one of the first honorees of the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame being recognized for being a musician born in the state. Ray's version of "Georgia On My Mind" was made into the official state song for Georgia. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.

In 1987, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1991, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Also in 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #10 on their list of the .On Tuesday, July 12, 2005, President George Bush signed into law a bill (PL 109-25), sponsored by Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (CA-33rd), designating the U.S. postal facility located at 4960 W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, as the Ray Charles Post Office Building. On August 24, 2005, the United States Congress honored Charles by dedicating and renaming the former West Adams ^{West Adams, Los Angeles, California} Station post office in Los Angeles the "Ray Charles Station".