Ray's Last Concert (2003)

Ticket for Ray's last live performance at Birchmere Music
Hall, Alexandria, VA, on 20 July 2003.

On August 5, 2003 Ray Charles' management released the following press statement:

All Remaining 2003 Tour Dates Cancelled; First Tour Ever Pulled in Entertainer's 53 Years of Concert Giving.
Due to acute hip discomfort, now being aggressively treated in Los Angeles, 13-time Grammy Award winner and music legend, Ray Charles, has decided to cancel his remaining tour dates for 2003, which were scheduled thru Dec. 16.
Mr. Charles, who turns 73 on Sept. 30, has not missed a tour in 53 consecutive years of concert travels. Earlier, Charles cancelled 14 concerts scheduled for August. "It breaks my heart to withdraw from these shows," he says. "All my life, I've been touring and performing. It's what I do. But the doctors insist I stay put and mend for a while, so I'll heed their advice."
While remaining in Los Angeles, Charles hopes to continue a light work load at his beloved, long time studios in Los Angeles, at RPM, where he's been overseeing production of new releases for his own record label, Crossover Records, mixing a long-planned gospel CD and beginning work on a duets album [...].