Ray Charles Robinson (23 September 1930 - 10 June 2004), known as Ray Charles, was an American singer, songwriter and composer from Albany, Georgia. Ray pioneered the genre of Soul music during the 1950s by combining rhythm and blues, blues and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He was sometimes referred to as "The Genius" and was also nicknamed The High Priest of Soul. Rolling Stone ranked Charles at number 10 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004. Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in show business".