Ray Charles
Biography
Ray Charles was an American singer, songwriter and pianist who helped shape soul music by blending blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel. Born in Albany, Georgia, he learned piano as a boy and began playing professionally in Florida before his trio's 1949 recording Confession Blues became a national rhythm and blues hit. Signed to Atlantic Records in 1952, he scored with I've Got a Woman, Drown in My Own Tears and What'd I Say, then moved to ABC, where Georgia on My Mind won Grammy Awards and the 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music brought country material to a pop audience. Later recordings included the 1985 charity single We Are the World, and he appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. His honors included 17 Grammys, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, the Polar Music Prize and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
73years old at death
- Born Albany
- Died Beverly Hills
- Star sign: LibraFirst day of the sign, on the Virgo cusp
- Ray Charles Robinson (birth name)Also credited as Ray Charles Robinson/Raymond Charles Robinson Peter
Movie Career
- Films
- 8
- Career span
- 42 years1980 to 2022
Genres
- Documentary50%, 4 films
- Music38%, 3 films
- Action25%, 2 films
- Comedy25%, 2 films
- Biography13%, 1 film
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A first
Charles signed with ABC and was among the first black musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.
A first
In 1986, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed its first group of members, and Charles was among them.
A first
Charles was the third African-American to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, after Charley Pride and Deford Bailey.
Early training
Mrs. Lawrence, Charles's music teacher, showed him how to read and write music in Braille. The process is hard: one hand learns its movements by reading the other hand's Braille, and then the two parts are combined.
A first
In April 1949, Charles and his band recorded "Confession Blues". It was his first national hit and climbed to second place on the Billboard R&B chart.
Ray Charles movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Sacha Jenkins directed two of these films. Eight actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Dan Aykroyd's page
Michael Jackson's page
Quincy Jones's page
Stevie Wonder's page
James Brown's page
Tina Turner's page
Sacha JenkinsDirector, 2 films, 2021 to 2022
All films by Sacha Jenkins
Also two films together2 more actors
- Dionne WarwickSunday Best (2021) and We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song (1985)
- Billy JoelJoe Cocker - Mad Dog with Soul (2017) and We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song (1985)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Awards
Eleven awards and honors from 1981 to 2019, one of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammy Awards | |||
| 1988 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 2019 | Blues Hall of Fame (posthumous) | I've Got a Woman | Won |
| 2000 | Library of Congress Living Legend | Won | |
| 1998 | Polar Music Prize | Won | |
| 1993 | Lifetime achievement award | Won | |
| 1993 | National Medal of Arts | Won | |
| 1992 | Florida Artists Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 1986 | Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres‎ | Won | |
| 1986 | Kennedy Center Honors | Won | |
| 1986 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 1981 | Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.