As the tributes of the past two weeks have reminded us, Ray Charles could make any song, in any genre, his own — even the white-bread 19th-Century hymn ‘‘America the Beautiful,'' one of Charles's most ...

I'll know that today is the "Fourth of July" (no matter what the calendar insists) when I hear my friend's stereo pulsing out "America the Beautiful." The Ray Charles version, of course. Charles's ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Singer-songwriter Ray Charles may have had Georgia on his mind, but North Florida is where his path to fame and fortune began. Charles was born in Albany, Georgia, but grew up in ...

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The city of Albany is filled with rich culture and history. A piece of that history is located at the Ray Charles Plaza in Albany. Ray Charles is an Albany native and his legacy ...

The poem that inspired the song, America the Beautiful, is 130 years old today, and despite the threats to democracy, it resonates more than ever. At this moment of deep political division, bold ideas ...