Ray Charles R.I.P.

[Jim Price]

Just the other day, after catching a glimpse of Stevie Wonder appearing on the Oprah TV show, I wondered about Ray Charles; how old he now was and if he was still performing. Now just in on the news, Ray died today (Thursday) of liver disease at age 73. Ray was one of those icons I can remember watching on TV when I was a kid. It's pretty amazing to think about what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime in spite of going blind at age 7 and becoming an orphan at age 15; he won 12 Grammies.

[tornandfrayed]

Wether you like Heavy Metal, Jazz, prog Rock or whatever you owe it to yourself to check this music out. It is sad that the passing of a man of the caliber of Ray Charles brings us to his music, but get there. This guy was amazing and we all owe something to the pioneers, the ones who did it and kept doing it because it was their life.

[byndrsn]

Yeah, I agree with you both about Ray, and I have to add that I was always amazed at his sense of humor; some of the movies he had cameos in - well, it always made me laugh.

RIP

[Pure Evil]

The Blues Brothers is one of my all time favorite movies. One of my favorite parts is with Ray in "Ray's Music Exchange". A blind man packing a gun in a music store is just damn funny. lol He was a great talent.

[Imgrimm01]

After hearing the news I put in a Ray greatest hits cd and and the soul with which this man sang is unbelieveable , he will be missed .
At 11:30 tomorrow when America gives Ron that moment of silence I will add a minute for Ray..

[wake up drumming]

R.I.P. Ray!

[songsmith]

Ray DEFINED soul. He took church songs and sang the blues over them (the devil's music). In 1962, he had the #1 song on the pop, R&B, and country charts with "I Can't Stop Loving You," a song that's instantly recognizable 42 years later. I saw him a week ago on CMT Crossroads, with Travis Tritt, doing Buddy Guy's " Leave My Little Girl Alone," and he played single-line blues guitar runs on a synth... sound cheesy? Oh, HELL no. I had to stop what I was doing and pay attention, it was so good. He was a giant, and the world is worse off without him.----->JMS

[ToonaRockGuy]

The really bad part about Ray's passing is that a whole lot of the younger generation will only remember him for those really crappy PA Lottery commercials on television. They'll never know about "That's What I Say", "Georgia On My Mind", "Hit The Road, Jack", or "One Mint Julep".

I'm gonna put on some Ray right now.

[getclosertothemusic]

Ray Charles was truly the "King" of soul. He will be deeply missed!

[esa]

I liked him too.. sorry he's passed. The one thing you forget is that the Pa lottery jingles will never be the same... and wasn't it coke he pitched for? (or was it pepsi?)

rip ray....

[HurricaneBob]

Ray was the man. The opitomy of soul he was. I hope no one takes offense at this picture of Ray but it just goes to show everything he had to overcome to be the performer he was. I think he'd smile if he could see this (or fire his stage manager). May god have a hellava show with Ray!

[daveb]

I remember seeing Ray Charles on TV in the late 60's and thinking how cool he was. The way he moved while he was playing made me think of my rock 'em sock 'em robots. Then, when I got into music, I was amazed at his ability to blend soul, rock and even a country vibe into something that was powerful and original. I saw an segment on 60 Minutes about Ray one time. It was Fascinating. Some of his closest friends would question from time to time if he really was blind or not. There was film of him mixing a song in the studio. He was so comfortable in there that you would never have known that he was blind. He will be missed.