Ray Charles Popular Song Rankings [2026]

Somewhere Over The RainbowRay Charles11rank/position

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Here is a song written for the 1939 musical film The Wizard of Oz.

Winner of the 1939 Academy Award for Best Original Song, it’s one of those tunes that even Japanese people unfamiliar with jazz will likely recognize and find easy to hum.

Judy Garland’s original version is wonderful, of course, but Ray Charles’s warm, embracing rendition is also outstanding.

It’s well received by listeners and is a song I can recommend to both men and women.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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What’d I Say Pts. 1 & 2Ray Charles12rank/position

Ray Charles – What’d I Say Pts. 1 & 2

It’s well known that “What’d I Say” was originally a piece over seven minutes long and was therefore recorded in two parts, Part 1 and Part 2.

The intro is lengthy, and it might make you impatient on first listen, but from the second time on, the electric piano in that intro gradually lifts your mood.

What’d I Say, Pt. 1Ray Charles13rank/position

What’d I Say, Pt. 1

Ray Charles was a soul singer who, despite the handicap of blindness, drew worldwide attention for his superb piano technique.

He was known for his free, genre-defying arrangements.

He’s also very familiar to Japanese listeners and is famous for covering Japanese songs such as “Itoshi no Ellie.” His signature track “What’d I Say, Pt.

1,” released in 1959, later received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

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Ryo

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You don’t know meRay Charles & Diana Krall14rank/position

Ray Charles & Diana Krall – You don’t know me.

Originally a country track released in 1956 by Eddy Arnold.

The most successful version by Ray Charles reached No.

2 on the U.S.

charts.

It has been recorded by many artists, including Jerry Vale and Alison Krauss.

Why Me LordRay Charles & Johnny Cash15rank/position

Ray Charles & Johnny Cash Why Me Lord

A downright gritty gospel song by the masters Ray Charles and Johnny Cash.

It’s a track that lets you feel the historical flow in which gospel—originally African American spirituals—and R&B evolved into what became soul music.