Ray Charles

:Disambiguation: For Ray Charles of the Ray Charles Singers, and longtime vocal conductor for Perry Como, see Ray Charles (elder).

Quotations

• "When I started to sing like myself — as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while — when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it." — (San Jose Mercury News, 1994)
• "Do it right or don’t do it at all. That comes from my mom. If there’s something I want to do, I’m one of those people that won’t be satisfied until I get it done. If I’m trying to sing something and I can’t get it, I’m going to keep at it until I get where I want it." — (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 1998)
• "The fact of the matter is, you don’t give up what’s natural. Anything I’ve fantasized about, I’ve done." — (Los Angeles Times, 1989)