Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s. Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on its list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on its November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time."

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ray Charles" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.