Ray Charles Dies at Age 73

[Red]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Musi....ap/index.html

Rest in Peace

[Dee]

I saw this headlined at CNN 10 minutes ago and almost started a thread.

I'm surprised to hear of this. Quite sad.

[Knightmare]

Man, another great talent is gone.


Thanks for all the great songs and memories Mr. Charles.

[PaQ]

I heard this on the radio, the host had just heard it off the wire.. It's pretty sad to see another person who impacted life be gone.

I never really had a chance to listen to his music, but I know he was a talented man, and I always enjoyed those Pepsi commercials. That CNN article really highlighted who he was, and I learned some things I never knew.. Hopefully he can rest in peace now.

[JShaggy]

I never really had a chance to listen to his music, but I know he was a talented man, and I always enjoyed those Pepsi commercials. That CNN article really highlighted who he was, and I learned some things I never knew.. Hopefully he can rest in peace now.

Yeah, I enjoyed those Diet Pepsi commercials he did.

He was a very talented musician, and will be greatfully missed.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Aw, man.

I was just thinking about this a few days ago when we were listening to Ray Charles on the car CD player. "We've lost a lot of them, but at least we've still got Brother Ray."

Now we don't have Brother Ray any more.

Listening to early Ray Charles (I like the Atlantic Records Birth of Soul 3-CD set, myself) is a visceral experience. You can literally feel something brave and new and unbearably COOL struggling into being and making an indelible mark on rock-and-roll. And they're STILL amazing pieces of music that are, at turns, witty and goofy and silly right before he shifts gears and breaks your heart in ways you didn't think it could be broken. You can feel it again when you listen to some of the experimentation he did with jazz and country tunes later on in his career.

I hear most modern pop music these days and hear little more than sterlized, sanitized, overpackaged crap (now with 20% more Carefully Planned Shock Value), and then I compare it to something like Ray being outlandishly exuberant in "What'd I Say?" or "One Mint Julep," let alone something with the kind of emotional kick of a "Drown in My Own Tears" or his cover of "America." The word "genius" gets bandied around a lot to describe people completely unworthy of it. With Ray, I didn't like using the word "genius" because it just seemed inadequate.

If there's a heaven, Ray's in it, and there's just a bit more soul to be heard in the heavenly choir. Rest in peace, Ray.

-- Ed/Ace

[Alex Toon]

Aw damn. Sorry for my languge, but this is a very sad loss. One of the greatest artists of all time has just died,making me sad. And I bet no one else will take Charles's place.

[Mysteryinfoman]

I really don't like to respond to these threads but I gotta say I'm sad, R.I.P.

[Juu-kuchi]

:sigh: first Reagan and now Ray Charles.

:remembers that rather tragic climax of Metropolis (anime) done to "I Can't Stop Loving You":

[EightOh]

I honestly can't formulate anything right now except... Damnit.

[The Penguin]

Everyone dies eventually and I'm happy that Ray Charles was able to live a pretty full life and touch more than one generation with his music and personality.

I can't really say I know a lot about his music, but I did enjoy his, "You got the right one baby! Uh-huh!" Diet Pepsi commercials and his "American The Beautiful" performance at one of the earlier WrestleManias.

[Chris Wood]

He was a great one. The real tragedy is he never saw it coming. Cue crickets

[Sora Takenouchi]

That is so sad. He was a musical genius. At least he lived a full life.

[Caffeine King]

That's terrible...

At least he left his mark in music...

[JackieChan]

Rest in peace Ray Charles, you were a great musician. You will truely be missed by your fans, family, and friends. Why must a great musician die ?

[shogunthethird]

isn't it wierd how famous people always tend to die in groups, I'll miss Brother Ray, the man was a virtuoso, why do the great talents always die but the mediocre ones tend to linger? I mean Ray Charles dies and meanwhile Barry Manilow is still around, John Lennon got shot but Yoko Ono is still here