Ray Charles

“I was born with music inside me.” That’s what he said. Ray Charles is the world's best-known music artist and will live on forever in our hearts and musical styles. Ray's diversity in music has changed the music industry forever, and for the better. His life was great and pretty long-lived. He was happy with his life and his career. His persistence and love for music is a big part of what made him famous. He worked hard and he was great! Here’s the Music Man!!

Ray Charles was born on September the 23rd, in the year of 1936. When he was three years old, Ray used to sit down at the piano and try anything and everything he could think of to make a note. He would sit down with his good friend, Wylie Pitman, who would teach him how to play it right. He was happy that someone would take the time to do that with him at such a young age. That’s where it all began.

When he was about 5 years old, Ray had to watch his younger brother die. They were playing by a huge washing bucket and he fell in and drown. Ray thought his brother was just playing around but when he realized he wasn’t, it was too late and his brother was gone. This was a major tragedy to him. He loved his little brother very much. It was about this time that Ray started to lose his sight. He tried to save it for longer and longer by staying out of light and things of that nature but, by the time he was 7, Ray was completely blind. Being blind didn’t stop him. It made it even more incredible that he could play his piano and sing and give wonderful concerts. Ray did a few gigs and made a huge break with Concord/Hear music. He loved Nat King Cole. He would sing like him because he loved his music so much. Then he realized that it wasn’t different enough, and he started singing like himself.

His music touched people. "Like a good song, you can't get away from a good song. You have a good song, and it will still be beautiful, even when somebody with a bad voice sings it. I love the old writers, who wrote beautiful love songs. I came up on those kinds of songs. But I have just as much love for blues and jazz too.” Ray would never play anything that he didn’t think was good and that his fans wouldn't like. "It's like Duke Ellington said; there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. And you can tell when something is good." His compositions included jazz, country, rock and soul. His diversity won over the nation and he topped the charts! Ray's career went downhill for a while after he got involved in drugs. Heroin took over and he wasn't doing very well. So Ray went to rehab and tried to fix his problems. He was successful. In 1989 Ray did so with "I'll Be Good to You," which was his first hit in over twenty years.

Ray Charles was a good man and an amazing musician. With hits such as "Georgia On My Mind," "Hit the Road Jack," "Ruby," and "Unchain My Heart," he was entered into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1982 and again in 1986. Incredible. He worked eight months a year with music, going on tours and pleasing the people with music. Thanks to him, music has been changed for the better and will live forever. Ray Charles - September 23, 1930 - June 10, 2004