Ray Charles
American singer, pianist and songwriter (1930–2004)
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.
The public source identifies “Ray Charles” as american singer, pianist and songwriter (1930–2004). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Charles, American and singer.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ray Charles”, the useful work is to connect “american singer, pianist and songwriter (1930–2004)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q544387. VIAF identifies the subject as 103647937. The Library of Congress control number is n50055897. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 2004 and 1962.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ray Charles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.