Ray Charles rolls on with busy summer tour schedule

R&B legend Ray Charles, who this year will celebrate his 73rd birthday, is spending his golden years on the road rather than in retirement.

Charles kicks off his lengthy tour itinerary with a May 23 performance at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre, and is scheduled to traverse the U.S. and Canada almost non-stop through the end of August. The outing includes multi-night stands in Montreal, Atlantic City and New York City.

"Thanks for Bringing the Love Around Again," Charles' most-recent album, surfaced last year, and is his first collection of new studio material since 1996's "Strong Love Affair." The singer-pianist used the new set to launch his new record label, Crossover Records.

Charles--who started his first label (Tangerine Records) in the '70s, but later returned to major labels--said in a recent statement that he set out on his own again in order to have more control over how his albums are handled.

"Working with big companies, they pay you, but they don't promote you like they should," he said. "That is my assessment. So I thought, 'I had that record company back about 30 years ago, why not re-open it?' That way I could do my own promotions and everything, and if it works, it works."

Five tracks from "Thanks for Bringing the Love Around Again" are streaming at Crossover Records' website.

Charles' recording career spans more than 50 years, during which he has racked up a dozen GRAMMY® awards. His best-known hits include "Georgia," "Hit the Road Jack" and "America the Beautiful."