Ray Stevens

Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939),<ref name="rays-bio">Template:Cite web</ref> known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and pop singer-songwriter and comedian.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty hits including "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". Stevens has earned gold albums and has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Early life

Harold Ray Ragsdale was born on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia.<ref name="rays-bio"/> He is the elder of two sons born to Willis Harold Ragsdale (1915–2001) and Frances Stephens Ragsdale (1916–1997).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His younger brother, John, who died in 2020 at the age of 75, became an actor and writer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While attending high school, he formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group named The Barons. He began studying business administration at Georgia State College in Atlanta, but very quickly switched to become a music major. He left after completing three of the four years required to obtain a degree, which he felt that he did not need.<ref name="Hieronymus">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="AMC">Template:Cite book</ref>

Career

Early career

At the age of 18, Ray Stevens signed to Capitol Records' Prep Records division in 1957<ref name="AMC"/> and produced the single "Silver Bracelet", with a cover of "Rang Tang Ding Dong" as the B-side. The B-side was originally recorded by doo-wop group The Cellos in 1956.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The single was met with a positive review from Billboard.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, "In between the record’s 1957 recording and its release, his name changed to 'Ray Stevens' at the insistence of country A&R chief Ken Nelson of Capitol Records, who said the name 'Ray Ragsdale' didn’t 'pop.'”<ref name = "Country">Template:Cite web</ref>

1960s

Stevens signed with Mercury Records in 1961.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His first hit came that year, with the novelty song “Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills,” which hit #35 on the pop chart.<ref name = “Billboard”>Template:Cite book</ref> This began the long string of novelty songs for which Stevens is best known, including “Ahab the Arab” (#5, 1962), “Harry the Hairy Ape” (#17, 1963) and “Gitarzan” (#8, 1969). <ref name = “Billboard”>Template:Cite book</ref>

Based in Nashville since 1962, Stevens also worked as a multi-instrumental session musician and songwriter. According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, “Stevens became a favorite of maestro Chet Atkins. He sang with the Jordanaires; played trumpet for an Elvis Presley session; wrote songs for Brook Benton, Skeeter Davis, and Dolly Parton; and contributed to Waylon Jennings’s classic 'Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line.'" <ref name = "Country">Template:Cite web</ref>

While Stevens was best known for comedy, he occasionally recorded straightforward pop songs as well. The most successful of these in the 1960s was “Mr. Businessman,” which went to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. <ref name = “Billboard”>Template:Cite book</ref>

1970s

In 1970, Stevens signed to Barnaby Records, owned by singer Andy Williams. He then hosted an NBC comedy-variety series, Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens, as a summer replacement for Williams' regular series.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This led to Stevens' biggest hit in the U.S., his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970), which he wrote and performed as the theme song for his TV show. It won a Grammy Award, was a number-one hit on both the pop and adult contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the top 40 on the country charts, peaking at number 39. The single sold over one million copies earning a gold record.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">Template:Cite book</ref>

Stevens had a transatlantic chart-topping hit in 1974 with "The Streak", a novelty song about streaking which reached number one on the American and British singles charts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> The following year, he scored another hit with a unique arrangement of Erroll Garner's jazz-pop standard "Misty," which went to #3 on the country chart and #14 on the Hot 100.<ref name = "Country">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = “Billboard”>Template:Cite book</ref>

Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, with some exceptions (such as "Shriner's Convention" in 1981), Stevens focused mostly on serious material, as he felt that the novelty song was becoming less popular in the era.<ref name=nutsoversquirrel>Template:Cite magazine</ref> However, in 1977 he released a cover version of Glenn Miller's big-band standard "In the Mood" in which the vocals sounded like chickens clucking, credited to The Henhouse Five Plus Too.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Stevens also had an adult contemporary crossover hit in 1979 with "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow", a cut from Stevens' Barry Manilow tribute/parody album The Feeling's Not Right Again.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

1980s

Stevens signed with RCA Records in 1980, releasing three albums over the next two years. He briefly returned to Mercury Records for one album in 1983. Convinced that novelty songs were becoming popular again, he authorized the rush release of "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" for MCA Records in 1984, which reached the country top 20.<ref name=nutsoversquirrel/> In 1985, Stevens performed at the Lanierland Music Park in Cumming, Georgia with Pinkard & Bowden.<ref name="Inc.1985">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

21st century

In February 2002 after the September 11 attacks, Stevens released Osama—Yo' Mama: The Album after the title track, which was released as a single in late 2001, peaked at number 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2001. The album reached number 29 on the Top Country Albums chart. In April 2010, he released We the People, a CD/DVD of political songs. It was in the top five on the Billboard Comedy Album chart.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

RAY-ality TV ended its digital TV run in January 2014. In March, a webisode series, also titled Rayality TV was launched. Later in 2014, Stevens co-starred in the movie Campin' Buddies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He published an autobiographical memoir Ray Stevens' Nashville in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2015, Stevens began producing and hosting Ray Stevens Nashville, a 30-minute weekly music variety show on cable TV. The show was rebranded as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and is filmed on stage at his own CabaRay Showroom, which opened to the public in early 2018. The album Here We Go Again came out on March 24, 2015. It includes the Taylor Swift spoof single "Taylor Swift is Stalking Me"<ref>Billboard, March 24, 2015 – Ray Stevens Returns With 'Taylor Swift Is Stalkin' Me' – By Chuck Dauphin</ref> and "Come to the USA".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Personal life

Stevens and Penny Jackson Ragsdale were married for over 60 years, until her death on December 31, 2021, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Two days prior, he had canceled his New Year's Eve concert at CabaRay, due to Penny's rapidly declining health. They had two daughters, Suzi and Timi, and four grandchildren.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stevens was hospitalized after complaining of chest pains on July 4, 2025. He was eventually determined to have suffered a "mild" heart attack, and he was placed in intensive care.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He successfully underwent heart surgery on July 7 and left intensive care on July 9.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Grammy awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1970	Best Contemporary Male Vocalist	"Gitarzan"	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1971		"Everything Is Beautiful"	Template:Won	<ref name="Past Winners Search">Template:Cite web</ref>
1971	Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)	"Everything Is Beautiful"	Template:Nom	<ref name=Grammys71>Template:Cite web</ref>
1971	Contemporary Song	"Everything Is Beautiful"	Template:Nom	<ref name=Grammys71/>
1971	Record of the Year	"Everything Is Beautiful"	Template:Nom	<ref name=Grammys71/>
1971	Song of the Year	"Everything Is Beautiful"	Template:Nom	<ref name=Grammys71/>
1971	Best Inspirational Performance	"Love Lifted Me"	Template:Nom	<ref name=Grammys71/>
1976	Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)	"Misty"	Template:Won	<ref name="Past Winners Search"/>
1976	Best Country Vocal Performance – Male	"Misty"	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1980	Best Comedy Recording	"I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow"	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1988		"Would Jesus Wear a Rolex"	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Ray Stevens Cabaray Showroom Official Website
• Template:IMDb name
• Tom Redmond – Working with Chet Atkins: An Interview with Ray Stevens
• Ray Stevens – MyBestYears.COM INTERVIEW SPOTLIGHT Template:Webarchive
• Ray Stevens Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2014)