Charles The Genius In The 1980's

Music critic, Patrick Macdonald, credits Ray with first using the word “soul” to describe his style of music. To, Frank Sinatra, Charles was “The Genius”. Quincy Jones put the two together and called him “The Genius of Soul”. In 1980, Charles appeared in the comedy The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The music icon received a special honor a few years later as one of the first people inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was recognized for his contributions to the genre alongside such fellow artist as James Brown, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly. Ray returned to the spotlight in the early 1990s with several high-profile appearances. He also recorded commercials for Pepsi-Cola, singing "You Got the Right One, Baby!" as his catchphrase, and performed "We Are the World" for the organization USA for Africa alongside the likes of Michael Jackson, Tina turner, Billy Joel, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Janet Jackson, Latoya Jackson, Tito Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Smokey Robinson. During the 60s he became more involved in films. Appearing in the 1962s “Swinging Along”, and recording soundtracks for several more. By 1964 he seemed on

A child growing up blind living in poverty and being in orphanage as a teenager. Which doesn’t quite give you a sense of stability when it comes to certain things. Also the fact that Ray lost his mother and brother could be a factor as well. It could probably be said that Ray was dealt a bad hand in life. Yet he took that hand turned it into music notes and dealt the cards back out making something out of life’s choices. The music industry within itself can be a hard thing to deal with so most artist do seek to other things. Such as alcohol, drugs and gambling. Something that Ray did was never confused let his hype from heroin interfere with his love for