Ray Charles’ troubled estate
Ray Charles performs Feb. 9, 2002, at the Universal Amphitheatre, which has since been renamed the Gibson Amphitheatre. Charles died at age 73 in Beverly Hills on June 10, 2004, after a long battle with cancer. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Adams controlled access to Charles toward the end of his life and ended up with power over the estate after his death, the artist’s children contend. Adams spoke in 2007 at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ray Charles Memorial Library on the site of the singer’s Los Angeles recording studios. (Gary Friedmann / Los Angeles Times)
The Rev. Robert Robinson, left, Ray Charles’ fourth son, and Ray Charles Jr., the late singer’s eldest son, at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills in September 2007. Ray Charles Jr. says his father told him that he would be able to benefit from his name and likeness after his death. He said Adams has blocked those efforts. Robinson read only a single psalm at his father’s funeral despite claims by the singer’s family that Charles wanted his son to preside over the entire ceremony. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Los Angeles Times)
Actor Jamie Foxx in 2004 at RPM studio, where singer Ray Charles made many of his recordings in Los Angeles. Foxx portrays the legendary singer in the film “Ray.” (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
