# Ray Charles dead - Here comes another annoying weekof tributes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688 "2004-06-10T19:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/1 "2004-06-10T19:45:09Z")
Just when Reagan is about to exit stage left, Ray Charles has to take the dirt nap? I _can’t_ take another week of memorials, tributes, and 24 hour media coverage. Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/2 "2004-06-10T19:50:18Z")
Shame on you. This isn’t some stupid politician dying , this is _Ray Charles_. Show some respect. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/3 "2004-06-10T19:51:33Z")
At least this one will involve some excellent songs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/4 "2004-06-10T19:52:32Z")
So shut the television off and go read a book. Believe it or not, these people mean something to a large number of us. Brother Ray was a giant, and the world is a poorer place without him. Hit the road, Jack. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/5 "2004-06-10T19:52:59Z")
That’s right, they’re honoring and remembering a human life JUST TO PISS YOU OFF. Turn off the damn TV if you don’t like it. Oh, and bite me. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/6 "2004-06-10T19:54:19Z")
Maybe they can double-up and use a Ray Charles song or two in the Reagan tribute. Then they fade out of Reagan and into Charles, before they fade into the next celebrity death. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/7 "2004-06-10T19:59:08Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > At least this one will involve some excellent songs. I’d 1000 times rather watch a tribute to Ray Charles than a tribute to Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/8 "2004-06-10T20:01:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe they can double-up and use a Ray Charles song or two in the Reagan tribute. The see-no-evil, remember-no-evil special? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/9 "2004-06-10T20:03:35Z")
What I’m going to be annoyed the most about is the flurry of threads that get started each time someone dies. It’s usually pretty unavoidable (two started in Cafe Society at the same time, so preview wouldn’t have prevented it), and it’s pretty minor to get all up in arms about, but it still sticks in my craw. I’m such a jackass. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/10 "2004-06-10T20:05:55Z")
Gracious, now _there_’s a death I’ll mourn! I do hope that his passing won’t be treated as a footnote to Reagan, like Mother Teresa’s death was in the wake of the Princess Di hysteria. _sigh_ I need to go home and put on “Georgia on My Mind.” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/11 "2004-06-10T20:06:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’d 1000 times rather watch a tribute to Ray Charles than a tribute to Reagan. I’m guessing Ray would have expressed exactly the same sentiment. I had no idea he was ill or even that old. Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause? This will be a helluva tribute. Not many come anywhere close to his musical stature. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/12 "2004-06-10T20:09:53Z")
You’ll just have to suck it up for a couple more days. Tony Randall, Ronald Reagan, and now Ray Charles. That’s three. Besides, do you really think Charles will get a full week of coverage? He was not a head of state. Three days, maybe four, tops. By Monday, you’ll just have to avoid the magazine racks. (No disrespect intended to the recently deceased, or to the OP.) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/13 "2004-06-10T20:14:20Z")
Well my DSL is down at home, and I’m leaving work, so let me just say this before I get flamed out of existence. My annoyance has nothing to do with Ray Charles, he was a great man, and I hope he rests in peace. My problem is with the weeks of _cheesy_ round the clock media coverage this will set off. Give the man a tribute, but make it short and sweet, and then move on. This should be repeated in the future for anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/14 "2004-06-10T20:20:51Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause? [This](http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14285,00.html?tnews) makes it sound like death was a result of complications stemming from his hip replacement. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/15 "2004-06-10T20:24:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Anyone have any idea as to his age or the cause? 73, Cause of death: Acute Liver Disease [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5182959/?GT1=3584](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5182959/?GT1=3584) Sam ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/16 "2004-06-10T20:25:10Z")
Note: the above link will probably ask you to register for E! online. Just click “I’d like to continue reading” if you don’t want to register. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/17 "2004-06-10T20:28:03Z")
Someone _would_ have to come in and confuse things. I meant _my_ link, of course. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/18 "2004-06-10T20:31:20Z")
**WE** ,old chap, you’re just suffering from _tributosis_, the result of a staggering overdose of maudlin crapola being spewed into your fragile existence. There will be no round the clock tributes to Ray Charles, there wouldn’t be even if the competition weren’t sucking up all the air time. What with Katie Couric interviewing Ronald R.'s tailor about how the cut of his trousers revealed a down-home sense of humor aligned with a masterful grasp of geo-political alignments. (Lord _God_, when will it _end_!..) Ray Charles I truly dug, he was a inspiration to heroin addicts everywhere. The only people I ever heard speak disparagingly of him were musicians hired as his side men, and they hated him down to the tips of thier toes. He (it is said) had the unnerving habit of changing key and tempo more or less on whim, and firing anyone who wasn’t appropriately psychic. But, hell, “Hit the Road, Jack.” Priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/19 "2004-06-10T20:38:04Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > The see-no-evil, remember-no-evil special? That’s fucking hilarious! The Wolfmeister embraces the dark side! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688/20 "2004-06-10T20:39:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > **WE** ,old chap, you’re just suffering from _tributosis_, the result of a staggering overdose of maudlin crapola being spewed into your fragile existence. There will be no round the clock tributes to Ray Charles, there wouldn’t be even if the competition weren’t sucking up all the air time. What with Katie Couric interviewing Ronald R.'s tailor about how the cut of his trousers revealed a down-home sense of humor aligned with a masterful grasp of geo-political alignments. > > (Lord _God_, when will it _end_!..) Oh, hush up, \*\* 'luci\*\*, you’re safely away from the madness up in the Great White North, but here in the DC area the roads are closed, the trains are clogged, security is _everywhere_. Oh, and the Bush girls are coming to work in my building (which houses the Bush reelection campaign), so we’re going to have more security checks here and more Secret Service hovering by the elevators. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-charles-dead-here-comes-another-annoying-weekof-tributes/249688.md?page=2)