Music is my life, professionally, for nearly 60 years. To be recognized by the academy is still the highest honor. – Ray Charles
My music had roots which Id dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil. – Ray Charles
What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man. – Ray Charles
I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water. – Ray Charles
It is jazz music that called me to be a musician and I have always sang the songs that moved me the most. Singers, like Frank Sinatra and myself, we interpret the songs that we like. Not unlike a Shakespearean actor that goes back to the greatest words ever written, we go back to the greatest songs. – Harry Connick, Jr.