🎤 Ray Charles // collaborations · IMUDB
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Ray Charles
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Member of
Instruments
piano
voice
Awards
Polar Music Prize
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Library of Congress Living Legend
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
Florida Artists Hall of Fame
Kennedy Center Honors
National Medal of Arts
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Blues Hall of Fame
IMUDB Ranking
9.7/10
Based on how many times this artist has been played on Last.fm — not a critic score.
🎧 2,910,613 listeners
▶ 45,717,611 plays
Wikipedia
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians, Charles preferred being called "Brother Ray". He lost his vision as a child, possibly due to glaucoma, and consequently wore dark glasses.
Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining elements of blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel into his music during his time with Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. With ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.
Charles's 1960s hit "Georgia on My Mind" was the first of his three career No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became his first album to top the Billboard 200. Charles had multiple singles reach the Top 40 on various Billboard charts: 61 on the US R&B singles chart, 33 on the Hot 100 singles chart, and eight on the Hot Country singles charts.
Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but was also influenced by Art Tatum, Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra called Charles "the only true genius in show business", although Charles downplayed this notion. Billy Joel said, "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley."
For his musical contributions, Charles received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and the Polar Music Prize. He was one of the inaugural inductees at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Charles has won 17 Grammy Awards (five posthumously), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked Charles No. 10 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and No. 2 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2023, in its revised list for the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time", Charles was replaced at the No. 2 position by Whitney Houston while taking the sixth spot. In 2022, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
🤝 Collaborations (157)
Genius ↗MusicBrainz credits combined with Genius song credits from top 15 tracks
Ray Charles has 157 credited collaborators on IMUDB — 43 featured, 8 producer, 5 bandmates, 12 production & engineering, 4 instrumentalists, 85 other. Active 1930–2004.
F
🎵 Top Tracks popularity ranked · Genius
⭐ Known For
True Genius
▶ 2,741,387
Anthology
▶ 1,903,523
Ray Charles (aka: Hallelujah, I Love Her So)
▶ 2,366,685
Genius Loves Company
▶ 1,626,266
The Genius of Ray Charles
▶ 1,190,485
Soul
▶ 1,477,369
Discography scroll for more →
Porgy & Bess
1989
Soul Brothers / Soul Meeting
1989
Just Between Us
1988
From the Pages of My Mind
1986
The Spirit of Christmas
1985
📻 Historical Recordings
Shellac sides digitised by the Great 78 Project — original 78rpm transfers, free to stream
Browse these sides on the Internet Archive ↗The IMUDB Guitar Guide
The Complete Guitarist — 20 chapters, beginner to expert. Free PDF, no email required.