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Della Bea Robinson, also known as Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, was the second and longest-serving wife of legendary musician Ray Charles.
She married Ray on July 5, 1955, and stayed married for 22 years until their divorce in 1977. Together, they raised three sons and built a family that became central to Ray Charles’s personal story. As of 2026, Della Bea Robinson is believed to be still alive.
Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Della Beatrice Howard Robinson |
| Nickname | Bea |
| Born | circa 1931 to 1933 |
| Age (2026) | Approximately 90 to 95 years old |
| Birthplace | Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Christian |
| Education | Not publicly documented |
| Profession | Homemaker, private individual |
| Ex-Husband | Ray Charles Robinson |
| Marriage Date | July 5, 1955 |
| Divorce | 1977 |
| Sons | Ray Charles Robinson Jr., David Robinson, Reverend Robert Robinson |
| Net Worth | Not publicly disclosed |
| Status (2026) | Believed to be alive, living privately |
Who Is Della Bea Robinson?
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson has become one of the most popular names that appeared in the personal life of Ray Charles, and yet she has been one of the least known.
She was not a performer. She was not a celebrity. She was a woman who made a decision between family and fame and secretly determined the destiny of one of the most outstanding musicians America had ever known.
She was brought up in Dallas, Texas, and conducted herself with a studied, quiet, religious self-respect that Ray Charles himself, in interviews and in his autobiography, has recognized.
She symbolizes the type of woman whose efforts are never appreciated but whose loss would have seen the surrounding world go to pieces.
The woman behind the genius is what people are even searching for when they are searching for the name of a genius della beatrice howard robinson or Della Bea Robinson. This article provides her story with the desired attention.
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s Early Life
Della Beatrice Howard was born in Dallas, Texas, probably in the early 1930s. No official sources or verifiable records have ever established her exact birthday date, which is also testimony to how heavily she managed to guard her privacy over the course of her life.
She was brought up in a religious family. Her faith in Christianity remained with her throughout all of her life, from her childhood in Texas to her adult years in Los Angeles, supporting her family.
That religion was one of the most prominent features of her and one of the aspects that Ray Charles admired the most about her.
Information regarding her children, other siblings, and her schooling years can only be found unwritten in the records.
She had always been a private person, and she was most certainly so throughout, even after marriage to one of the most renowned men in the world.
How Did Della Bea Robinson Meet Ray Charles?
Della Bea Robinson came into contact with Ray Charles at the beginning of the 1950s in Dallas, Texas.
Ray was already touring on a professional basis and crafting the sound that would later make him a star around the globe. He was playing in the area where they met, and the relationship between them was formed in a short time.
According to Ray Charles, Bea helped him feel calm and grounded in a state he had hardly experienced in the CF of professional music.
To a man who lost his sight in his seventh year, lost his mother when a teenager, and had to spend several years working in an industry that could provide very little stability, the constancy of Bea was everything that most people could not comprehend.
They both engaged in a relationship, and then Ray made the decision to marry her. Della Bea Robinson was married on July 5, 1955, in a private marriage ceremony.
Ray was 24 years old. They got married when his career was just picking up at the top.
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson and Ray Charles: Their Marriage Years
The marriage between Della Bea and Ray Charles spanned one of the most remarkable periods in American music history.
Between 1955 and 1977, Ray Charles recorded landmark albums, performed across the world, appeared on major television programs, and became a cultural institution.
Throughout all of it, Bea stayed home in Los Angeles, raised their sons, and kept a household running that gave Ray something real to return to between tours.
Their life together was not without serious difficulty. Ray Charles struggled with heroin addiction for years, a problem he spoke about openly in his autobiography. His arrest in 1961 in Indiana brought the issue into public view.
His rehabilitation in 1965 marked a turning point. Bea supported him through that recovery period, and Ray credited his family as part of what made him fight to get clean.
Ray also had relationships outside of their marriage throughout the years they were together. He fathered children with multiple women, and Bea was aware of this reality. She navigated it with a quiet dignity that defined how she handled the most difficult things in her life.
By 1977, after more than two decades, the marriage ended in divorce. The split was not publicly dramatic. Both parties moved on without public statements or media disputes.
Della Bea Robinson Net Worth
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s net worth has never been officially disclosed. She is a completely private individual who has not participated in public life, given interviews, or engaged with media in any documented way.
Ray Charles’s estate was valued at approximately $75 million at the time of his death in 2004. His will distributed $500,000 to each of his 12 children and set aside significant funds for his charitable foundation focused on hearing loss research and education.
Della Bea and Ray had been divorced since 1977, which means she was not a beneficiary of his estate in the traditional sense. However, any divorce settlement from 1977 would have included financial provisions, though the specific terms of that settlement were never made public.
She has lived privately since the divorce, and her current financial situation remains entirely unknown to the public.
Della Bea Robinson’s Sons: Ray Charles Robinson Jr
Della Bea raised three sons with Ray Charles. Each of them took a different path in life, and each reflects a different side of the family they grew up in.
Ray Charles Robinson Jr.
Ray Charles Robinson Jr. followed his father directly into music. He became a professional singer and musician, performing tribute concerts and releasing his own recordings.
He has appeared in multiple documentaries about his father’s life and spoken in interviews about what it meant to grow up in a home shaped by Ray Charles’s genius and complicated personal choices. He carries his father’s name and continues to represent the family’s musical legacy.
David Robinson
David Robinson chose a significantly more private path. He stepped away from the public eye after growing up in the Charles household and has maintained that distance consistently. He appears at family events and has been mentioned in tribute contexts, but he does not seek media attention.
Reverend Robert Robinson
Reverend Robert Robinson took perhaps the most unexpected path of the three. He entered religious ministry and became a reverend, a choice that clearly reflects the Christian faith his mother Della Bea instilled in their home throughout his childhood. His title and vocation represent Bea’s deepest values, made visible in her son’s life choices.
Margie Hendrix and Ray Charles: Context That Matters
Any complete discussion of Ray Charles’s personal life includes Margie Hendrix, one of the women with whom Ray had a significant relationship outside his marriage to Bea.
Margie Hendrix was a member of The Raelettes, the famous backing vocal group that performed with Ray Charles throughout his peak years. She and Ray had a close personal relationship that ran alongside his marriage to Della Bea, and she gave birth to Charles Wayne Hendricks, Ray’s son.
Margie Hendrix was a talented vocalist in her own right. Still, her relationship with Ray was complicated by his addiction and the broader difficulties of life in the music industry during that era. She passed away in 1973.
Her story is often mentioned alongside Della Bea’s because the two women represent opposite poles of Ray’s world: Bea was the stable home, and Margie was part of the touring life that pulled him in a different direction.
Is Della Bea Robinson Still Alive in 2026?
Yes. Based on all available information, Della Beatrice Howard Robinson is still alive in 2026. She lives an entirely private life and has made no public appearances in recent years.
She is believed to be in her early to mid-90s. Her sons have referenced her in interviews and at tribute events, and she was acknowledged by family members following Ray Charles’s death in 2004. No credible source has reported her passing.
She remains a woman who chose privacy as a lifestyle, and she has honored that choice consistently across decades.
Little-Known Facts About Della Bea Robinson
Della Bea’s full name, “Della Beatrice Howard Robinson,” uses her maiden middle name, “Howard,” which she retained in the public record even after her marriage to Ray Charles.
Reverend Robert Robinson’s decision to enter Christian ministry directly mirrors the religious values Bea brought into the home, making her faith her most lasting personal legacy.
Ray Charles named his charitable foundation’s hearing research programs partly in acknowledgment of the family that kept him grounded, a family Bea built and maintained almost entirely on her own.
Ray Charles Robinson Jr. has said in interviews that his mother taught him to separate the public figure of Ray Charles from the father who came home, a skill that helped him process a complicated childhood with clarity and respect.
Despite being married to Ray Charles during the recording of some of the most iconic songs in American music history, including “Hit the Road Jack,” “Georgia On My Mind,” and “I Got a Woman,” Bea never gave a single documented media interview about their life together.
Conclusion
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson lived one of the most quietly powerful lives connected to American music history. She was not on the stage. She was not in the photographs. She did not give the interviews or accept the awards.
In 2026, at approximately 90 years old, Della Bea Robinson lives privately and peacefully. Her story is proof that the people who hold things together quietly are often the ones who matter most.
FAQs
Who is Della Bea Robinson?
Della Bea Robinson, full name Della Beatrice Howard Robinson, is the second wife of legendary musician Ray Charles. She married Ray on July 5, 1955, and the two remained married for 22 years before divorcing in 1977. She raised three sons with Ray and has lived privately since the divorce.
What is Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s net worth?
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s net worth is not publicly known. She has never disclosed financial information and has lived as a private individual since her 1977 divorce from Ray Charles. Ray Charles’s estate was valued at approximately $75 million at his death in 2004, but Bea was not a beneficiary, as they had been divorced for 27 years.
What is Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s birthday?
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson’s exact birthday has never been officially confirmed in public records. She was born in Dallas, Texas, likely in the early 1930s, which would make her approximately 90 to 95 years old in 2026.
Who was Eileen Williams, Ray Charles’s first wife?
Eileen Williams was Ray Charles’s first wife, whom he married in 1951. Their marriage lasted less than a year and ended in divorce. Very little is publicly documented about Eileen Williams, and she has never spoken publicly about her marriage to Ray Charles.
Who is Reverend Robert Robinson?
Reverend Robert Robinson is the youngest son of Della Bea Robinson and Ray Charles. He entered the Christian ministry and became a reverend, a path that reflects the deep religious faith his mother instilled in him. He is one of Ray Charles’s 12 children and one of three sons born from Ray’s marriage to Della Bea.