Born in rural Georgia on September 23, 1930, Ray Charles didn’t allow blindness or childhood poverty to derail his musical dreams. Blending R&B, jazz, blues, pop, and country music, he knocked down racial barriers and left behind an enduring legacy following his death at age 73 on June 10, 2004. Eight days later, on this day (June 18) in 2004, more than 1,200 people openly mourned while celebrating the legacy of the “Genius of Soul” at Los Angeles’ First African Methodist Episcopal Church. The sprawling ceremony included performances from Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, Glen Campbell, and others.
Watch Willie Nelson’s Heartbreaking Final Goodbye to Ray Charles
Stepping up to the pulpit, Willie Nelson’s voice trembled slightly as he paid tribute to longtime friend Ray Charles with a poignant performance of “Georgia On My Mind”.
Originally written and recorded by Hoagy Carmichael, “Georgia On My Mind” became Charles’ first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.
Other performers included Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, and Glen Campbell, who sang “Where Could I Go But to the Lord”.
Clint Eastwood, Janie Fricke, Bill Clinton and Little Richard also attended the service.
Willie Nelson Once Praised His Contributions to Country Music
In 1985, the 17-time Grammy winner sat down beside Nelson at a piano during a Nashville Network concert titled The Willie Nelson Special. The two singular icons traded vocals on “Georgia On My Mind”.
“I lost one of my best friends and I will miss him a lot,” Nelson said after Charles’ death.
The iconic pair once teamed up for a duet of “Seven Spanish Angels” on Charles’ 1984 album Friendship. It topped the country charts for one week, giving the Georgia-born superstar his highest-charting entry in the genre.
In his 2012 book Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings From The Road, Nelson boldly declared that Charles “did more for country music than anyone else.”
[RELATED: 3 Duets We Wish Happended Far More Than Just Once]
“When he recorded the album ‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,’ with all the great country classics, millions of Ray Charles fans were introduced to country music,” wrote the Red-Headed Stranger. “I had been a Ray Charles fan all the way back to ‘What’d I Say.’ To be able to record and sing with him was a dream come true.”
Featured image by Genaro Molina-Pool/Getty Images
The post 21 Years Ago Today, Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell Led a Stunning (And Heartbreaking) Farewell to the “Genius of Soul” appeared first on American Songwriter.
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