Ray Charles

Known for ActingBorn 1930-09-23Died 2004-06-10Albany, Georgia, USA

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.” Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"Read more

Movies & web series

CATFISH

Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice

Quincy Jones, Music Man

Rat Pack

Albert, the Rockefeller

Glen Campbell | Good Times Again

Fats and Friends

Willie Nelson & Friends: Live and Kickin'

Legends of Rock 'n' Roll

Lynda Carter's Celebration

Bio’s Bahnhof

They All Came Out to Montreux

Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love

The Willie Nelson Special - With Special Guest Ray Charles

2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Blue's Big Musical Movie

We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song

The Big T.N.T. Show

The Greatest Night in Pop

Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music

CMT Crossroads

Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration

The Nanny

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

Barbra Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments

Willie Nelson: The Big Six-O

Piano Greats at the BBC

Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones

Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration

The Midnight Special

Cachitos de hierro y cromo

Musikladen

The Blues Brothers

Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres

Merci Dorothée !

Tom Dowd & The Language of Music

The Blues

The Carol Burnett Show

The World of Jim Henson

Moonlighting

In the Heat of the Night

Ray Charles - Live in France 1961

Who's the Boss?

The Kennedy Center Honors

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built

Fats Domino: Walking to New Orleans

Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues