June 28, 2004 14:43

RAY CHARLES BIOPIC GETS GREEN LIGHT

The music legend gave his seal of approval to 'Ray' shortly before his death...

A biopic about the life of
late star RAY CHARLES, who died
earlier this month, is to be released in October.

Charles had given the project, called 'Ray', the
green light and met Jamie Foxx, the
actor who would play him, several months ago.
Foxx sings some of
Charles' classics, though the
legendary blues and soul man re-recorded many of his
old hits for the film.

"Ray Charles okayed the script, and he was 100%
supportive of what we were doing in telling his life
story," music supervisor Curt Sobel told Billboard
magazine. "Jamie only sang on the set, not in the
studio. We felt that many of the older songs needed to
have Ray's vocals."

The film is directed by Taylor
Hackford, the man behind 1987’s classic
‘Chuck Berry: Hail Hail Rock and
Roll’ - a documentary based around
Berry’s 60th birthday concert in St
Louis.

A soundtrack album for ‘Ray’ will
be released in August.