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Marjorie "Margie" Hendrix (sometimes Hendricks) (March 13, 1935 – July 14, 1973)[1] was an American rhythm and blues singer and founding member of the Raelettes, who were the backing singers for Ray Charles, the father of her child, Charles Wayne Hendrix.

Margie Hendrix
Birth name	Marjorie Hendrix
Born	(1935-03-13)March 13, 1935 Register, Georgia, U.S.
Died	July 14, 1973(1973-07-14) (aged 38) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz Blues R&B Gospel
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals Piano
Years active	1954-1970
Labels	Mercury Records Sound Stage 7

Early years and the Cookies

Margie Hendrix was born on March 13, 1935, in Statesboro, Georgia, the daughter of Kattie and Renzy Hendrix.[1] She sang, played piano and directed her local church choir while in her teens. In the early 1950s, around the age of 18, she moved to New York City and signed a record deal with Lamp records and released her first singles "Everything", "Good Treatment", and "Every Time" in 1954, but they did not hit the charts and she left the label in 1955. In 1956, she replaced Beulah Robertson in the Cookies, joining existing members Dorothy Jones and Darlene McCrea. The group signed to Atlantic Records, and had a #9 hit on the R&B chart with "In Paradise". They also started working as session singers at Atlantic, where they were introduced to Ray Charles. The Cookies auditioned for Charles on the song "Leave My Woman Alone". In 1958, Margie and McCrea left the Cookies (who later went on to greater success with a different line-up), and later formed the Raelettes as Ray's backing singers.[2]

The Raelettes and Ray Charles

In October 1958, Ray Charles recorded his first song with the Raelettes, "Night Time Is the Right Time", which reached #5 on the R&B charts. The song is widely known for Margie's powerful vocals.[3] There was a mutual attraction and Margie and Ray began an affair, and had one son, Charles Wayne Hendricks (born October 1, 1959 in New York City) together.[2][4] After she gave birth to Charles Wayne, she tried to convince Ray to leave his wife Della Beatrice Howard and live with her and their son, but Ray refused. Margie and the Raelettes performed on several of Ray's songs, but during the 1960s, Margie's relationship with Ray began to fall apart and she later started to use alcohol and heroin, and her career began to suffer. Her drug use started to affect her appearance and behavior with the Raeletts like picking fights during recording sessions, not showing up to performances, and showing up to performances drunk. In 1964 the Raelettes released the single "A Lover's Blues" which featured Margie on lead vocals, but this was the last song that she recorded with Ray, because in July 1964 during a tour in Europe after a heated and possibly physically violent argument, Ray officially fired Margie from the Raelettes and sent her back to the United States.[5]

Unsuccessful solo career and drug addiction

After leaving the Raelettes, in 1965 Margie signed a record deal with Mercury Records and she released five singles, but the singles flopped which increased her use of alcohol and more damaging drugs.[2] In 1966, Margie married jazz singer Robert Fulson, who was the brother of singer Lowell Fulson.[6] On September 7, 1967, while driving in Texas, Margie was injured with Robert, when their car was struck by a lumber truck. The two of them both survived, but Margie suffered neck injuries and slight loss of hearing in her right ear.[7] She was dropped from the Mercury label in late 1967 due to her singles flopping. Margie and Robert divorced in 1968.[8] Margie later signed her second record deal with the Sound Stage 7 label in 1968 and released two singles, but they also flopped and she was dropped from the label in 1969.[2] In 1970 she became mentally unstable, faded away from the public eye, quit singing, and continued to use drugs and alcohol for the remainder of her life.[9]

Death

Hendrix died in New York, New York on July 14, 1973, aged 38. The official cause of her death is unknown due to a lack of evidence, and no autopsy was performed. Most sources claim her death was due to a heroin overdose,[10] but there are rumors that she died in a car crash or from cancer. Some sources also claim that she was facing poverty around the time of her death.^{[citation needed]} She is buried at New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Register, Georgia. Her son Charles Wayne died in 2013 from unknown causes.

In popular culture

Margie was portrayed by Regina King in the 2004 film Ray. King received her first NAACP Image Award and Satellite Award for her performance.

References

External links

• Discography at discogs.com
• Margie Hendrix Memorial at www.findagrave.com

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