Ray Facts and Information
By Joe Tracy, Publisher of Hollywood Lot Magazine

Ray Charles worked closely with Ray director Taylor Hackford in consulting for the movie. Unfortunately, Ray died four months before the movie was ready for release.

Not only were original Ray Charles songs used in the movie, but Ray also did new recordings specifically for the movie.

Throughout his career, Ray Charles won 12 Grammy Awards.

In 1988, Ray Charles was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In his lifetime, Ray Charles recorded 75 albums and had 76 singles appear on the best-selling charts.

Ray Charles was born on September 23, 1930 and he died on June 11, 2004 from liver disease complications.

Over the course of his career, Ray Charles raised over $20 million for black charities and education/arts programs.

The camerawork in Ray was altered to reflect the time period of Ray. This is how the director, Taylor Hackford, describes it: “In the early scenes we used dollies and cranes, which provided smooth, steady movement. Then when Ray meets and marries Della, the camera temporarily slows down, because she provided stability for him. However, as Ray’s ambition/ego heats up, and his use of heroin accelerates, we switched to a hand-held camera style to show the increasing instability in his life. At the end of the film, when Ray kicks heroin and resolves his relationship with his mother and brother, the camera finally slows down and stops.”

During the production of the movie, Jamie Foxx (who plays Ray Charles) had more than 100 costume changes!

Jamie Foxx had to undergo 1 hour of makeup every day to help transform his look to that of Ray Charles; particularly with a focus on the eyes.

Before scripting ever began, the director made a list of Ray Charles songs that he felt must appear in the movie. Those songs included: “I Got a Woman”, “Drown in My Own Tears”, “What’d I Say”, “Georgia on my Mind”, “Hit the Road Jack”, “Unchain My Heart”, and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Jamie Foxx is an accomplished piano player, which helped greatly in his role as Ray Charles for the movie. Musical supervisor Curt Sobel even commented, “Sometimes you could swear you were looking at Ray Charles in the room. Jamie’s also a terrific piano player and he was able to learn all these very difficult parts. It’s hard for me to imagine that anybody else could have taken on this role so fully.”