Ray Charles is one of the most recognized names in American music history. But the woman who shared his life for more than two decades is someone most people know little about — and that appears to be exactly how she prefers it.
Her name is Della Beatrice Howard Robinson. She was Ray Charles’s second wife, a reported gospel singer, and the mother of three of his sons. This article covers what is publicly known about her life, her marriage, her family, and what happened after she and Ray Charles went their separate ways.
Who Is Della Beatrice Howard Robinson?
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson is commonly referred to by the nickname “Bea.” She was born in 1929, with Los Angeles, California most often cited as her birthplace. Some sources also mention Perris, California as an additional detail, though the 1929 birth year is the most consistent piece of information across multiple accounts.
She is best known publicly as the second wife of Ray Charles Robinson, the legendary singer and pianist. That connection is the primary reason her name appears in search results today. Outside of that, she has lived a private life, and public documentation about her personal history is limited.
Most of what is known about Della comes from sources that were originally writing about Ray Charles. She is not someone who has sought out media attention, given interviews regularly, or maintained a public presence.
Her Gospel Music Background Before Ray Charles
Before her marriage, Della was reported to be an active gospel singer. She reportedly performed in church settings and, according to some accounts, had a broader career that included touring.
A planned faith-based film titled The Della B. Robinson Story, announced by Hit Song Productions, claims she toured alongside gospel artist Cecil Shaw and performed in both church sanctuaries and larger venues. The film’s promotional material describes her as a gifted gospel vocalist who stepped away from a promising music career when she chose marriage and family.
It is worth being clear here: much of the specific detail about her early music career comes from promotional material connected to that planned film. It should be treated as a reported narrative rather than fully verified gospel music history. There are no widely documented recordings, confirmed album credits, or independently verified tour dates connected to her name in music history sources.
What does seem consistent across multiple sources is that Della was singing gospel in the early 1950s, and that music is what brought her into contact with Ray Charles.
How She Met Ray Charles
Della reportedly met Ray Charles in Texas around 1954. He was on tour at the time, and she was performing gospel music. The connection through music is a detail that appears consistently across multiple sources.
Ray Charles was already building his career by that point. He had recorded early material and was gaining recognition as a performer. Their meeting in the mid-1950s came just before his music would reach a much wider national audience.
Her Marriage to Ray Charles — Timeline and Family
Della and Ray Charles married on April 5, 1955. She became his second wife; his first marriage had been to a woman named Eileen Williams.
Their marriage lasted approximately 22 years. The divorce was finalized in 1977.
During that time, they had three sons together:
- Ray Charles Robinson Jr.
- David Robinson
- Robert Robinson
Of the three, Ray Charles Robinson Jr. has had the most public presence. He has worked as an author and has been involved with aspects of his father’s estate. The other sons have remained largely out of the public eye, and their private lives are not widely documented.
The years of their marriage overlapped with some of Ray Charles’s most significant commercial achievements. During this period, he recorded hits including Georgia on My Mind, Hit the Road Jack, and I Can’t Stop Loving You. These were also years of heavy touring, high public demand, and considerable personal pressure. Della was at home raising their sons while Ray was frequently on the road.
Some accounts also note that Della helped care for at least one of Ray’s children from another relationship during the marriage. The planned film about her life specifically references this, framing it as part of the quiet sacrifices she made during those years.
Why the Marriage Ended After 22 Years
Ray Charles’s well-documented heroin addiction and repeated infidelity are consistently cited as the main reasons the marriage broke down.
Ray Charles was candid about both issues in his own interviews and autobiography. He acknowledged his drug use openly, and he reportedly fathered 12 children with approximately 10 different women — many of those relationships occurring during his marriage to Della.
Multiple sources describe Della as eventually reaching a point where she could no longer accept the ongoing infidelity. The marriage formally ended with their divorce in 1977, after more than two decades together.
Ray Charles entered a drug rehabilitation program in 1965 following a federal arrest for heroin possession, and he maintained sobriety in the years that followed. But by that point, the damage to the marriage was significant. The divorce came roughly a decade after his recovery, suggesting the issues ran deeper than addiction alone.
It is important to note that Della herself has not made detailed public statements about the marriage or divorce that are widely available. What is known comes largely from Ray Charles’s own accounts and from biographies written about him.
Life After the Divorce
After the divorce, Della stepped away from public life. She has not pursued media attention, given widely published interviews, or maintained a visible public presence in the decades since.
One source from around 2010 noted she was living in Riverside County, California, and appeared to be in stable health at that time. As of the mid-2020s, several outlets state she is believed to be alive, based on the absence of any public report of her death — though this is inference rather than a confirmed statement from family or official records.
There is no publicly documented information about whether she remarried, whether she returned to gospel music in any formal capacity, or what her day-to-day life has looked like since leaving the spotlight.
Her choice to remain private is not unusual. Many spouses of major celebrities, after high-profile marriages and difficult divorces, choose to move away from public attention entirely. Della appears to be someone who made that choice and has maintained it consistently.
Net Worth — What Is and Isn’t Known
Several celebrity biography websites list Della’s estimated net worth at around $15 million, typically attributed to her divorce settlement from Ray Charles. Ray Charles himself was estimated to be worth approximately $75 million at the time of his death in 2004.
These figures should be taken with caution. They come from secondary celebrity net worth sites rather than court documents or verified financial disclosures. The $15 million figure is repeated widely but is not confirmed by any primary source. It is a reported estimate, not a documented fact.
A Planned Film About Her Life
There has been renewed interest in telling Della’s story more fully. Hit Song Productions announced a faith-based drama in development called The Della B. Robinson Story. According to the announcement, the film aims to explore her journey from gospel singer to Ray Charles’s wife, with themes of faith, sacrifice, and resilience at its center.
The project suggests that there is growing interest in understanding her perspective — not just as a supporting figure in Ray Charles’s biography, but as someone with her own story worth telling. As of the available information, the film is still described as being in development.
For those interested in how celebrity relationships and family stories shape broader cultural narratives, resources like Startbusinessverse explore the intersection of public figures and the people around them.
Her Place in the Ray Charles Story
Della Beatrice Howard Robinson was a central figure in Ray Charles’s personal life for over two decades. She raised three sons, navigated the pressures of being married to one of the most famous musicians in America, and did so largely without public recognition or attention.
Her story is one that many readers encounter while researching Ray Charles — and it is a story that deserves to be told accurately and with care. She was not simply a background figure. She was a partner, a mother, and by her own apparent choice, a private person who stepped out of the public eye and stayed there.
What is documented about her life is modest but meaningful. She met a musician in Texas in 1954, married him in 1955, raised a family through the peak years of his fame, and eventually found that the marriage could not continue. After 22 years, she moved on quietly.
That quietness, in its own way, says something. Not every person connected to fame wants to remain in its orbit. Della Beatrice Howard Robinson appears to have always known exactly who she was — with or without the spotlight.
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