Genius Loves Company

Genius Loves Company is a studio album by Ray Charles, released in August 2004 on Concord Records and produced by John Burk, Terri Lyne Carrington, and others, a collaboration album pairing Charles with twelve major artists of multiple generations, recorded in what proved to be the final year of his life, and the album that won eight Grammy Awards in 2005 including Album of the Year (awarded posthumously, as Charles died in June 2004 before the release). Charles interpreted all the material; his duet partners include Norah Jones ('Here We Go Again'), Van Morrison ('Crazy Love'), Elton John ('Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word'), Bonnie Raitt ('Do I Ever Cross Your Mind'), Gladys Knight ('Heaven Help Us All'), Willie Nelson ('It Was a Very Good Year'), and James Taylor ('Sweet Potato Pie'), demonstrating a commercial range across six decades of popular music. 'Here We Go Again' (with Norah Jones) was released as the lead single and reached the top twenty on the Adult Contemporary chart; the album itself debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, Charles's highest chart position in decades. Genius Loves Company became the best-selling album of his career since the Modern Sounds period and served as both a commercial summation and a critical rehabilitation, introducing Charles to audiences who had known him primarily as a historical figure rather than a living artist. The album's posthumous Grammy sweep made it one of the most celebrated farewell statements in popular music history.