Ray Charles Finally Goes Platinum

[Lois Gilbert]

During his five-decade-long career, music legend Ray Charles had five gold records, including the classics “Georgia” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” Surprisingly, however, he never sold more than a million copies of any single recording. That is until now.

Last week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) offically certified Charles' final recording, Genius Loves Company, as a platinum disc. The CD, a collection of twelve newly recorded duets, was released on August 31, 2004, and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. First week sales soard past 200,000 unites, quickly outpacing sales for even Sinatra's historic “Duets” album of 10-years ago. Amazingly, this was the first time Charles had been in the Top 10 since 1964. To date, Genius Loves Company has shipped nearly two million copies worldwide.