Charles once told an interviewer from USA Today, "Music to me is just like breathing. I have to have it. It's part of me."

Despite recent health challenges, Charles was planning to again start touring in mid-June and the sudden setback in his recovery was a great shock to all.
Eleven children, 20 grandchildren and five great grandchildren survive Charles, who will be remembered late next week at a memorial service at the FAME Church in central Los Angeles with interment at Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, Calif.

Willie checks in:

WILLIE NELSON REFLECTS ON THE PASSING OF FRIEND AND MUSIC LEGEND RAY CHARLES

"I lost one of my best friends and I will miss him a lot," Willie Nelson said. "Ray could kick my ass any day in a chess game. He gloated over that. Last month or so, we got together and recorded "It Was A Very Good Year," by Frank Sinatra. It was great hanging out with him for a day."

Willie is the only figure in American music with anything close to Ray's reach and scope - they are similar in many ways, although entering a common room of material through different doors.

The classic country guys really dug Brother Ray - here's Travis Tritt:

TRAVIS TRITT REMARKS ON THE LIFE OF FELLOW MUSICIAN AND FRIEND RAY CHARLES

"I was deeply saddened by the passing of Ray Charles," Travis Tritt said. "Obviously the influence he had on me and my music from as far back as I can remember was monumental. I always take pride in the fact that I share the same home state of Georgia as Ray.

"I am a huge fan and avid student of his singing style. My life long dream was to have an opportunity to meet and record with Ray. The opportunity came last year when I taped and recorded a CMT Crossroad's special with him, and I count that as a high point in my life. As an added bonus, I not only had the chance to witness his overwhelming talent first hand while sharing the stage with him, but I also found a new and true friend. He called me back in his dressing room after the special, pulled me in real close and said: 'I'm going to give you my number and I want you to call'... and he meant it. We kept in touch and he flew in to catch one of my shows.

"I will always cherish the memory of his friendship and his hospitality to me."

Travis also said about Ray's tremendous impact on country music, "as soon as I heard "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" when I was a kid, the first thing I wanted to do was go home, rush home, and see if I could sing like him. I remember hearing Ray do those things like 'Born to Lose' and 'I Can't Stop Loving You' and I found that while I couldn't get in his world I could sing that style of music. I could sing with that soul. As far as I'm concerned, he did more to open doors in the 1960s for a whole new audience of country music listeners than anybody since him or before. If they don't find a place for Ray Charles in the Country Music Hall of Fame they're crazy."

Excellent point.