Charles Wayne Hendricks is the son of Ray Charles and his partner, Margie Hendrix. Charles Wayne’s father, Charles was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called “Brother Ray”. He was often referred to as “the Genius”. Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. Charles Wayne Hendricks’ mother, Margie was an American rhythm and blues singer and founding member of the Raelettes, who were the backing singers for Ray Charles. Charles Wayne Hendricks is the only child of his mother and father.
Charles Wayne Hendricks: Profile Summary
| Name | Charles Wayne Hendricks |
| Famous as | son of Ray Charles and Margie Hendrix |
| Date of Birth | October 1, 1959 |
| Birthplace | United States of America |
| Age (as in 2021) | 61 year old as of 2021 |
| Ethnicity | Black |
| Nationality | American |
| Zodiac Sign | Libra |
| Parents | Ray Charles – Father Margie Hendrix – Mother |
| Siblings | Ray Charles Robinson, Jr., Sheila Raye Charles, MORE |
Born on October 1, 1959, Charles Wayne Hendricks is the son of Ray Charles and Margie Hendrix. He was born in the United States of America in New York City. As of 2021, Charles Wayne is 65 years old.
Though Charles Wayne Hendricks is the only child of mother and father, He also has 11 other half-siblings from his father, Ray Charles’ side.
How did his parents meet? Charles Wayne Hendricks’ mother, Margie was a rhythm and blues singer and also one of the original founding members of the Raelettes, who were the backing singers for his father, Ray Charles. The couple had a six-year-long affair.
After she gave birth to Charles Wayne, Margie wanted Ray to leave his wife Della Beatrice Howard and live with her and their son, but Ray refused. Margie and the Raelettes performed on several of Ray’s songs, but during the 1960s, Margie’s relationship with Ray began to fall apart and she later started to use alcohol and heroin, and her career began to suffer. In 1964 the Raelettes released the single “A Lover’s Blues” which featured Margie on lead vocals, but this was the last song that she recorded with Ray, because in July 1964 during a tour in Europe, Ray fired her from The Raelettes during an argument.
Charles Wayne Hendricks’s father, Charles stated in his 1978 autobiography, Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ Own Story, that he became hooked on women after losing his virginity at 12 years old to a woman about 20. “Cigarettes and smack [heroin] are the two truly addictive habits I’ve known. You might add women,” he said. “My obsession centers on women—did then [when young] and does now. I can’t leave them alone,” he added.
Charles Wayne Hendricks’s father was married twice. His first marriage was less than a year, his second 22 years. Throughout his life, Charles had many relationships with women with whom he fathered a dozen children.
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Charles Wayne Hendricks’s mother, Margie died in New York, New York on July 14, 1973, aged 38. The official cause of her death is unknown since no autopsy was performed on her. Most sources claim it was caused by a heroin overdose, but there are some rumors saying that she died in a car crash or from cancer. Some sources also claim that she was facing poverty around the time of her death. She is buried at New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Register, Georgia.
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In 2003, Charles Wayne Hendricks’s father, Ray Charles had successful hip replacement surgery and was planning to go back on tour, until he began suffering from other ailments. He died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, of complications resulting from liver failure, on June 10, 2004, at the age of 73. On June 18, 2004, his funeral took place at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, with numerous musical figures in attendance. B.B. King, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder, and Wynton Marsalis each played a tribute at the funeral. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.
