Six call California home, and one lives abroad. His blood is flowing through our veins.”Ĭharles’ 12 children are widely dispersed. “If you respect a man and his work, then you respect his kids. Robert Robinson, one of Charles’ sons, said in an interview. “The biggest issue with me is disrespect for the family and kids,” the Rev. The children have been unable to obtain an accounting of the estate, in part because their legal right to the information is murky.Īdams has kept the children and other family members from participating in ceremonies honoring their father, they say, even his funeral.Īdams interrupted a private family service at the Angelus Funeral Home in Los Angeles, attempted to eject some of the participants and ordered the casket removed from the chapel, according to several people who were there. Both were commercial disappointments, even though they were released after the 2004 Oscar-winning biopic “Ray” had increased interest in Charles’ music. The family blames Adams for the release of two posthumous Ray Charles CDs that, in a departure from Charles’ usual practice, were remixed from work he left behind and overdubbed with tracks by other singers.
However, Jerry Digney, his spokesman, called the assertions “old, baseless allegations.” Adams’ actions, along with those of other executives of the estate, have “distorted and trivialized” the value of the Charles name, alleges a federal lawsuit that Den Bok filed in the name of her son and nine of his siblings.Īdams, 86, declined requests for an interview. In some cases, co-officers appointed by Charles departed their roles while Adams remained.įamily members contend that Adams’ leadership has tarnished the image of the artist, who was known for decades as the “Genius” - a title bestowed on him by Frank Sinatra. He was head of Ray Charles Enterprises, director of the foundation and trustee of the children’s trusts. Toward the end of the artist’s life, Adams was perceived by Charles’ children and others close to him as controlling access to the star.Īfter Charles’ death, Adams ended up with virtually unchallenged power over the estate. Adams signed on as Charles’ manager in 1961. That executive, Joe Adams, is the target of the family’s complaints. The foundation, which Charles originally established as the Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders, has come under the scrutiny of the California attorney general’s office, which at one point objected to its control by a single executive, without an independent board. “No one is as committed to RC as his family,” said Mary Anne Den Bok, an attorney who is the mother of Charles’ youngest child, Corey Robinson Den Bok.
#RAY CHARLES SPOUSE PROFESSIONAL#
Professional estimates place the value of Charles’ original masters at about $25 million - on top of the $50 million he held in securities, real estate and other assets.Ĭharles’ children are hoping to win control of the marketing of their father’s name and image, and a greater voice in foundation affairs. In lawsuits filed against Charles’ former manager, several of his children have asserted that their father’s legacy has been mishandled by the manager and others associated with Ray Charles Enterprises, which holds the rights to his music, and the Ray Charles Foundation.Īt issue are not only money and the family’s standing but also the fate of thousands of musical recordings, videotapes and other artifacts produced during Charles’ long career. Charles exercised iron control over his music and recordings, but his legacy is in disarray, knotted up in legal disputes between the estate’s management and his family members, according to interviews, court documents and correspondence from the California attorney general’s office.īorn Ray Charles Robinson in rural Georgia in 1930, Charles died at 73 in Beverly Hills on June 10, 2004, after a long battle with cancer.
The confusion and contention that resulted from that family gathering, the only time so many of the children met with their father as a group, helps explain what has happened since.
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