The president had declared tomorrow a national day of mourning. Today we've lost an American cultural giant. RIP, sir.
Ray Charles , the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73.
Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
Charles last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood (news) on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark.
Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South.
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June 10, 2004 10:39 PM
I must say that losing Ray Charles is one great loss to the world. I mourn his passing.
June 11, 2004 9:23 AM
Indeed. As someone said on the comments of another blog (can't recall which, exactly; most likely Daily Kos or Eschaton), it's as though God said, Okay, America....you want a reason to fly all those flags at half staff? And then He took Ray back on home. He will be missed.