ray charles rip

[MAJE]

i just hear the news that the great ray charles has gone

my ya soul rest in peace

thanx for ya music
thanx for ya inspiration
thanx ray




my prayers go to ya love

[magicstik]

I just heard the news too. Not to rain on Mr. Reagan's parade but hopefully the nation will show some love for a great artist that did much to bring us all joy. RIP!

[Craig]

RIP, Ray.

It always amazes me how someone blind can play so, so good.

I got mad love for Ray...loved those Peopsi commercials back in the day...

[Auset]

Damn, I'm late and I just saw this topic hunting, let me put up the info I found.

Ray Charles remembered as an innovator
By Anthony Breznican, AP Entertainment Writer | June 11, 2004

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Ray Charles is being remembered as a musical innovator who blended genres of music to create a new style. Charles died on Thursday of acute liver disease at age 73.

Ray Charles had a string of hits in the early 1960s, including "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Georgia On My Mind" and "Hit The Road Jack."

"There will never be another musician who did as much to break down the perceived walls of musical genres as much as Ray Charles did," said music producer Quincy Jones, who described Charles as a "brother in every sense of the word."

Charles died at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.

Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, the gifted pianist and saxophonist spent his life shattering any notion of musical categories and defying easy definition.

One of the first artists to record the "blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them," as legendary producer Jerry Wexler once said, Charles' music spanned soul, rock 'n' roll, R&B, country, jazz, big band and blues.

Over the course of a 58-year career, he put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South. Smiling and swaying behind the piano, grunts and moans peppering his songs, Charles' appeal spanned generations.

Aretha Franklin called Charles "the voice of a lifetime."

"He was a fabulous man, full of humor and wit," she said in a statement. "A giant of an artist, and of course, he introduced the world to secular soul singing."

James Brown recalled, "He was just a sweet and gorgeous and wonderful person ... He was a role model for all people that got to know him and his music. I respected the genius ... What set him apart? He was Ray Charles -- just that!"

Billy Joel, a fellow piano man, said he and others started out by imitating Charles. "Ray Charles was a true American original ... Ray Charles defined rhythm & blues, soul, and authentic rock 'n' roll," Joel said Thursday.

Charles' health deteriorated rapidly over the past year, after he had hip replacement surgery and was diagnosed with a failing liver. But he kept on working on what would be his last CD, "Genius Loves Company."

"There were a couple of times where he would say, 'I'm not feeling well today but I'll take a stab at it ... I can come back to it later.' And he never had to come back to it later," said John Burk, who worked with Charles as producer of the upcoming duets album.

The Grammy winner's last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago, as a historic landmark.

[jamadianUK]

1st thing that came to mind when I heard "All the good ones die young, , but the old ones who depart live us strong"

[Simply_Uneque]

I was so late in hearing aout this... days late!!!

Deepest sympathies to the family!!!!

[Craig]

Charles' health deteriorated rapidly over the past year, after he had hip replacement surgery and was diagnosed with a failing liver.

A year? I didn't even know he was sick. Dang...