Ray Charles died

[SALvation]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ople_charles_dc (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&e=1&u=/nm/20040610/en_nm/people_charles_dc)

Who will be the third?...

[ME BIGGD01]

Originally posted by SALvation@Jun 10 2004, 08:10 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ople_charles_dc (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&e=1&u=/nm/20040610/en_nm/people_charles_dc)

Who will be the third?...
do i have a choice? :P

[Die Hard]

RIP Ray Charles

[FUS1ON]

Man him dying sucks :bandhead:

[NightBreed]

:( Sad news...

He was the man...

[Seriously Deadly]

:( He sung good to , (i only heard america song) :(

[Aries]

another legend dies :(

RIP

[Snip3r]

Holy **** I just saw something on him on VH1 a couple days ago. That blows.

[Fred Bear]

:bawling: so long Ray Charles, see you on the other side

[Death Engineer]

Charles had at least nine children with five different women. His 20-year marriage to Della, one of his original Raelettes, ended in divorce in 1977.

Now there's something I didn't know. :unsure:

He was an awesome performer. May God be with his family and friends.

[Death-Dude]

Ray was a treasure - I almost say National Treasure, but he was embraced all over the world. I think Rolling Stone is an awful rag anymore, but their 50 top artists, with articles done by other admiring artists was a good read in may instances, and having a vocalist like Van Morrison write of Ray was spot-on appropriate. Here's what he said:

By Van Morrison



Ray Charles is proof that the best music crosses all boundaries, reaches all denominations. He can do any type of music, and at the same time he's always true to himself. It's all about his soul.
His music first hit me when I heard a live version of "What'd I Say" on American Forces Network in Germany, which I used to listen to late at night. Then I started buying his singles. His sound was stunning -- it was the blues, it was R&B, it was gospel, it was swing -- it was all the stuff I was listening to before that but rolled into one amazing, soulful thing.

As a singer, Ray Charles doesn't phrase like anyone else. He doesn't put the time where you think it's gonna be, but it's always perfect, always right. He knows how to play with time, like any great jazzman. But there was more to him than that voice -- he was also writing these incredible songs. He was a great musician, an amazing record maker, a great producer and a wonderful arranger.

There's a reason they called Ray Charles "the Genius." Think of how he reinvented country music in a way that worked for him. He showed there are no limitations, not for someone as good as he is. Whatever Ray Charles does, whatever he touches, he makes it his own. He's his own genre. It's all Ray Charles music now.

I always learn something listening to him. It's music that set a tough standard. For me, two albums that stand out are Ray Charles at Newport and Ray Charles In Person. Then there's Genius + Soul = Jazz with the Basie orchestra and Quincy Jones. And of course Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. There's so much to live up to -- these days, you almost have to go backwards to go forwards.

Recently I did a duet with him on one of my songs, "Crazy Love." It felt fantastic. I always loved his singing, but I also connected with him on a soul level. I just felt his emotion. People like Ray Charles -- and Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland and Solomon Burke -- defined what soul was for me. It wasn't just the singing -- it was what went into the singing. These were guys who put their souls on the line.

This music is way beyond marketing. This music is global, and its appeal is universal. Ray Charles changed music just by being himself -- by doing what he did and translating it to millions of people with the wide-ranging effect of his one-of-a-kind soul. That's his legacy. I think that the music of Ray Charles will probably outlive us all -- at least I hope that it will.

(From RS 946, April 15, 2004)

http://i.rollingstone.com/assets/rs/9/2510/images/00342700.jpg