Charles pioneered the soul music style through the Fifties by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel types into the music he recorded for Atlantic. He contributed to the mixing of nation music, rhythm and blues, and pop music through the Sixties along with his crossover success on ABC Data, notably along with his two Fashionable Sounds albums.

Whereas he was with ABC, Charles turned one of many first black musicians to be granted creative management by a mainstream document firm.

Charles’s 1960 hit “Georgia On My Thoughts” was the primary of his three profession No. 1 hits on the Billboard Scorching 100. His 1962 album Fashionable Sounds In Nation And Western Music turned his first album to high the Billboard 200. Charles had a number of singles attain the High 40 on numerous Billboard charts: 44 on the US R&B singles chart, 11 on the Scorching 100 singles chart, 2 on the Scorching Nation singles charts.

Charles cited Nat King Cole as a major affect, however his music was additionally influenced by Louis Jordan and Charles Brown.

He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. Frank Sinatra referred to as Ray Charles “the one true genius in present enterprise,” though Charles downplayed this notion.

Billy Joel stated, “This will likely sound like sacrilege, however I feel Ray Charles was extra essential than Elvis Presley”.

For his musical contributions, Charles obtained the Kennedy Middle Honors, the Nationwide Medal of Arts, and the Polar Music Prize. He was one of many inaugural inductees on the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame, in 1986. He has gained 18 Grammy Awards (5 posthumously), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Corridor of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked Charles No. 10 on their checklist of the 100 Best Artists of All Time, and No. 2 on their checklist of the 100 Best Singers of All Time. In 2022, he shall be inducted into the Black Music & Leisure Stroll of Fame.

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