Ray Charles Accomplishments

“He taught me to hear things I never heard before musically. He said most people hear with their eyes, but he taught me to see with my ears,” said Mable John lead singer of Ray Charles’s backup group called the Raelettes. Ray Charles was known for his fusion of gospel, rhythm, blues, country, and jazz style music (Funk). Musicians like Ray Charles are the ones who shaped the general idea of music. For him he is considered a master in jazz and blues. He has many achievements despite the many troubles he has faced. Ray Charles really made a name for himself in music despite his childhood and lifetime troubles.

Ray Charles Robinson was born September 23,1930 in Albany, Georgia. He grew up in Greenville, Florida living a seemingly normal

Over the end of his career beginning in the 60’s to the 90’s he won many grammy awards, including the 1987 Lifetime achievement award. One other nationally recognizable achievement was his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Not only did Charles get rewards; he gave rewards. He was a strong supporter of civil rights and gave over a million dollars to charitable causes over the years (Funk). He felt that he gifted his audience and held them in the palm of his hand. He could make them melt in her hands ,make them cry, and completely silence them at the snap of a finger with his lyrical excellence (Colquhoun). Despite the winding down of his career he popped back up many times in the 1980’s like his pepsi cola commercial singing “I got the right one, baby” and the production of “We are the World” for a United States organization for Africa with many other notable musicians such as Billy Joel and Cindy Lauper (Ray). His generous acts did not stop there. In 2000 he gave over two million dollars in scholarships to the Wilberforce University in Ohio. In 2001 He went to Las Vegas to promote Alliance Gaming’s new line of slot machines created for the blind (World Biography). In 2003 Charles had to cancel his show, which he had never canceled in fifty three years because of his hip, which caused him to have a hip