Ray Charles Music

Why did Ray Charles shake his head around when he sang and played piano?

Whenever I watch videos of Ray Charles, whether it's clips of him or on "The Blues Brothers", I notice that he shakes his head around alot. Why is this? Does it help him hear better or something?

Public Comments

1. yes
2. hes blind
3. He feels the music. Like when I play piano, I sway back and forth.
4. LMAO.its coz he really gets into the musical mood and he starts shaking his head to the music without even noticing.alot of musicians do that.xD
5. hahahaha very funny....well not really.He gets into the song and that's how he shows it. hahaha i swear ppl these days!!!
6. i dont know
7. I can only imagine that it enabled him to feel the music better, adding an extra dimension of enjoyment to the experience for him. I notice that Stevie Wonder does the same...and as Ray was, and Stevie is blind there must be something in that....after all neither of them would be able to leap around the stage without danger of hurting themselves (and of course Ray is seated at the piano, anyway) I saw Stevie Wonder in Birmingham (UK) when I was in my 20's and he did jump up and down a bit, but it looked dangerous to me.
8. Stevie does it too watch We Are The World. Maybe that's how they get into music, because it's not like any of them copied each other, so maybe that's just how they sing.