My Publicist Note Book

"I know some of you out there are thinking, 'Oh, she's Ray Charles's daughter; what could she have possibly been through?' It is only by the grace of God that I'm not sitting in that chair right now." Sheila Raye Charles SARASOTA, Fla.  -  June 15, 2017  -  American Vocalist, Songwriter, and National Recording Academy Member, Sheila Raye Charles; the daughter of the music icon, the legendary Ray Charles and Sandra Jean Betts has passed away after a gallant battle with breast cancer. Sheila Raye was 53. Sheila Raye has traveled across the United States and abroad spreading her message of love and redemption while also keeping her legendary father's memory alive through song, worship, and praise. Having spent much of her life watching her famous father, Sheila Raye embarked on her own music career as an adult. Her debut album, Introducing Sheila Raye Charles, was released in 2005. This R&B singles collection included trad...

Daughter's of Legends: Recording Academy Members, Sheila Raye Charles; (daughter of Ray Charles) and Claudette  King (daughter of B.B. King) together with Carla Cooke (daughter of Sam Cooke, honor Ray Charles, B.B. King, Sam Cooke :  Saturday, December 3, 2016 8:00 PM EST Tupelo Music Hall -Londonderry, NH  If you’re looking for a powerhouse show, look no further. This trio is honoring the music of their parents while creating sounds all their own with Jeff Pitchell and his great band. *NOTE Jeff Pitchell (voted BEST BLUES MUSICIAN in NEW ENGLAND in six state vote and has had a #7 CD on national Billboard Charts),  Sheila Raye Charles (daughter of Rock Hall of Famer Ray Charles, listed as one of the top ten artists ever by Rolling Magazine and Sheila provides skin tingling renditions of her father's best known songs from America the Beautiful to Hit the Road Jack!!)  Claudette King (daughter of Rock Hall of Famer BB King the ultimate ...

Famed singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson will come to town on Thursday, April 2, for a 7:30 p.m. performance at the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. Joining the Motown legend will be opening act Shelia Raye Charles and Uros Peric along with the Stivers School for the Arts Jazz Orchestra. With more than 4,000 songs to his credit, Robinson’s career spans more than 40 years of hits, including “Shop Around,”“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Tears of a Clown,” “I Second That Emotion,” and “Being with You.” He has been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and awarded the Kennedy Center Honors National Medal of Arts Award. Sheila Raye Charles (the daughter of Ray Charles) and Uros Peric will open with show with renditions of Ray Charles’ best known songs. The event is presented by the Victoria Theatre Association and GAB Productions.  Tickets start at $70 and are on...

RAY CHARLES’S DAUGHTER TO SING AND SPEAK ABOUT ADDICTION RECOVERY It is a well-known fact that beloved blues singer songwriter, Ray Charles,  struggled with heroin  addiction early on in his career. He was able to overcome his addiction after a stay in rehab in the 60s, but it seems one of his daughter’s went through a similar struggle. Sheila Raye Charles is one of the singer’s 12 children and she too went down the path of addiction for years before finally experiencing recovery. She is traveling to a number of venues including churches and prisons across the country to speak about her experiences with addiction while singing and performing some of Ray Charles’ music as well. Sheila is now living a more successful sober life after recovering from her issues of drug abuse. A Difficult Childhood and Music Career Ray Charles had children with nine different women and Sheila Raye was the seventh of twelve. Charles unfortunately, did not act as a father figure ...

It's in the mail: Ray Charles on a 'Forever' stamp! The late great entertainer extraordinaire Ray Charles will be honored with a Ray Charles Forever postage stamp on Monday September 23rd which would have been his 83rd birthday. As part of its Music Icons Forever series, the U.S. Postal Service will be unveiling the stamp hosted by the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Charles’ daughter Raenee Robinson-McClellan says, “I think I speak for all of our family that we are very grateful for the U.S. Postal service honoring Dad in such a way.” The limited-edition stamp will be made available for purchase the same day. Concord Records will toast the occasion with the release of Ray Charles Forever, a CD/DVD collection due Sept. 24.  The CD will feature 12 tracks, including covers of such memorable tunes as “A Song for You,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Imagine” and “America the Beautiful.” The DVD will offer 20 minutes’ worth of footage, including rare concert performanc...

Daughter of music icon Ray Charles, 'Sheila Raye Charles,' rises above her own life and tragic life choices to spring back with a message of hope for humanities children. The daughter of music icon Ray Charles, 'Sheila Raye Charles,'  rises above her own life and tragic life choices to spring back with a message of hope for humanities children. Collaborating with noted business owner, and songwriter Milliea Taylor McKinney. With a message of hope based on her own experience of what faith and belief in 'God' can do. The collaboration comes from a song written by McKinney,"We Are Hope." The song to be  recorded by Sheila Raye Charles, backed up by an amazing award recognized choir to be announced. The song has already received recognition from those in the social world and in the songwriting industry including 'Song of The Year Honorable Mentions  Award 2011.'  The power of music has been dated back to the beginning of time documented for i...

Here's another comprehensive spin on the Children of Ray Charles and their battle to honor, protect and defend their fathers legacy that you may find, a good read: In Dispute Over Ray Charles Songs, Family Gains Victory in Court By BEN SISARIO A dispute between the children of Ray Charles and the foundation to which he left most of his money is the latest battleground in one of the entertainment industry’s most contentious issues: the “termination rights” that allow artists and their families to recover the copyrights to their work from third parties like record companies or publishers. Last week a federal judge in California ruled that the Ray Charles Foundation cannot interfere with the efforts of seven of Charles’s 12 surviving children to recover the music publishing rights to about 60 of his classic songs, like “I Got a Woman,” “Hallelujah I Love Her So” and “Mary Ann.” The foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization founded by Charles in 1986, curre...

The latest salvo in the copyright lawsuit between the Ray Charles Foundation and seven of the late singer's children finds the court ruling in favor of the children. The ruling allows them to reclaim copyrights on about 60 of Charles' classic songs, including " I Got a Woman," "A Fool for You," "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "Mary Ann ." In a statement issued today (Jan. 29), the Ray Charles Foundation plans to appeal the U.S. District Court's decision. “The very clear and unmistakable intention of both Ray Charles and all  his children was that, in exchange for a substantial payment, the  children were not to raise any claims against their father’s estate," states Ray Charles Foundation president Valerie Ervin. "The children who filed  these termination notices violated the sacred  promise they made. They took their father’s money and now come back  for more. The law is very unsettled in these matters and...

 [Seven of Ray Charles’ children have prevailed against the Ray Charles Foundation’s legal effort to prevent them from reclaiming copyrights on about 60 of his best-known compositions]  Here's the report from Variety's deputy editor, Ted Johnson ; Mon., Jan. 28, 2013, 12:30pm PT A group of Ray Charles' children have prevailed against the Ray Charles Foundation's legal effort to prevent them from reclaiming copyrights on about 60 of his best-known compositions. U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins threw out a number of claims that the legendary singer's namesake foundation had filed against the children after they filed termination notices in 2010 to reclaim ownership of the works from Warner/Chappell Music. Warner/Chappell has not challenged the validity of the termination notices, but the Ray Charles Foundation did, as it reaps royalties from the copyrighted music. But Collins ruled that the foundation lacked standing to challenge the children...

Sheila Raye Charles, daughter of legendary Ray Charles, is the featured guest artist in Alabama's 4th quarters FYI magazine for the Division of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services in the state of Alabama for their national recovery month celebration.          Here's Sheila's Interview with the Associate Commissioner Dr. Beverly Bell-Shambely : If you would like to view the PDF in it's entirety, please click here, Enjoy!  

Sheila Raye Charles at the  2012 Boston Soul Experience Boston Hard Rock Cafe - November 15, 2012 The Boston Soul Experience - 4 acts at Hard Rock Cafe, featuring Sheila Raye Charles the daughter of legendary Ray Charles, performing his music and her own! The show will be a night of music that touches and liberates the soul.  The artists of all four handpicked acts — Sheila Raye Charles, Lucia Marie, Gold Blood & The Associates, Aisling Peartree — stand out for their unique talent and sound. They'll bring various flavors and experiences of music with the underlying continuity of soul.  A percentage of ticket sales will be donated to Music Drives Us. VIP - 7:15 pm VIP "Behind The Scenes" Meet The Artists event will give VIP ticket holders ($15 additional) a behind the scenes experience before the show! Guests will get an opportunity to meet the artists, including headliner Sheila Raye Cha...

www.sheilaraycharles.com The incomparable Sheila Raye Charles , daughter of legendary soul artist, Ray Charles,  is scheduled to visit Washington state this weekend, November 3 through November 5 th, spreading her ministry of HOPE and JOY and no doubt some of her famous father's music along the way.   Sheila Raye will be p erforming In-Concert at New Heart Mcc/ U cc in Tacoma, this Sunday , November 4th at 6:30 PM ( Doors open at 6 PM ) located at 759 S. 45th St. Tacoma, Washington 98408 ( This is a Conquer Entertainment Event) O ther Washington stops include: *Nov . 3 - Celebrate Recovery at Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church  begining at   7 PM . *Nov. 4- The Salvation Army for a Private Event on 4th avenue South, Seattle WA.  *Nov. 5- Celebrate Recovery at the  Calvary Community Church, 15116 Gary Street, Sumner, WA 98390 at 7 PM B elow is a commercial for New Heart Metropolitan Comm...

Ray Charles Songs Lawsuit Could Make Major Impact On Copyright Battles Ray Charles’ Music Publishers Win $6.6 Million Suit   [ PDF ] songwriters hope more lyric sites will seek license after gaining this first judgment. Sheila Raye Charles, daughter of  legendary music Icon, Ray Charles, recently celebrated her father's birthday in his home town of Albany, Georgia  keeping her fathers' legacy alive for generations to come. Michael Jackson once sang, "You can't win / You can't break even/ And you can't get out of the game." With that in mind, a group of music publishers including Peermusic, Bug Music and Warner Chappell Music has won $6.6 million in a copyright infringement lawsuit against LiveUniverse, Inc. for displaying lyrics online to such songs as Ray Charles' "Georgia on My Mind." In a battle over rights to Ray Charles' famous songs, the charitable foundation that was bequeathed the singer's money and asset...