In his early years, Charles showed an interest in mechanical objects and would often watch his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. His father abandoned the family, left Greenville, and married another woman elsewhere. He was deeply devoted to his mother and later recalled her perseverance, self-sufficiency, and pride as guiding lights in his life. She and Mary Jane then shared in Ray’s upbringing. When she became pregnant by Bailey, incurring scandal, she left Greenville late in the summer of 1930 to be with family members in Albany, Georgia for the baby’s birth, after which mother and child returned to Greenville. The Robinson family had informally adopted Aretha (or Reatha), and she took the surname Robinson. They lived in Greenville, Florida with Robinson’s father and his wife, Mary Jane Robinson. At the time, his mother was a teenage orphan making a living as a sharecropper. Ray Charles Robinson was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, and Aretha (or Reatha) Williams. ] Billy Joel claimed, “This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley” In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on its list of the “ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time“, and number two on their November 2008 list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time”. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles “the only true genius in show business”, although Charles downplayed this notion. Their friendship lasted until the end of Charles’s life. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.Ĭharles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by country, jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues artists of the day, including Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He became friends with Quincy Jones. He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. He pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He was often referred to as “The Genius”.Charles was blind from the age of seven. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called “Brother Ray”. Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known professionally as Ray Charles, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Portrayals of Disability: Clips used in the launch.2015: Portrayal of Disability: Then and Now. ![]() 2021: Relationships + Sex / Hidden Impairments.2015: Potrayal of Disability: Then and Now. ![]() ![]()
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