# On This Day in 1960, Ray Charles Scored His First Pop No. 1 With a 30-Year-Old Song That Became a State Anthem

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/on-this-day-in-1960-ray-charles-scored-his-first-pop-no-1-with-a-30-year-old-song-that-became-a-state-anthem/
- Published: 2026-11-15T00:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T01:21:40+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1960-ray-charles-scored-his-first-pop-no-1-with-a-30-year-old-song-that-became-a-state-anthem/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Ray Charles earned his first pop No. 1 with “Georgia on My Mind”.
- The song was written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell.
- Charles’s recording became Georgia’s state song in 1979.

## Summary

Ray Charles’s recording of “Georgia on My Mind” reached No. 1 on the US pop chart on 14 November 1960, giving him his first pop chart-topper and helping make him a household name. His rendition turned a song written decades earlier into a lasting tribute to Georgia.

Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote the song in 1930, and its original meaning is debated: Carmichael later said it referred to the state, though some details have suggested it may have been about a woman named Georgia. Charles recorded it for the concept album *The Genius Hits the Road*. His version won two Grammy awards, became Georgia’s state song in 1979 and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993.

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