Charles' final CD goes platinum

Charles was awarded 13 Grammys during his long career

Late singer Ray Charles' final album of duets has gone platinum after sales of more than one million - a feat he did not achieve during his 53-year career.

Posthumous CD Genius Loves Company, released on 31 August, has become his first US top 10 entry since 1964.

During his lifetime Charles had five gold records, selling more than 500,000 copies each, including singles Georgia on my Mind and I Can't Stop Loving You.

Charles, who was 73, died on 10 June of complications from liver disease.

Genius Loves Company debuted in second place on the Billboard Top 200 chart, selling 202,000 copies in its first week on sale.

Career

Producer John Burk said that even as Charles' health waned, he continued recording the album and still managed to "dazzle".

"He would say, 'I'm not feeling well today but I'll take a stab at it, and I can come back to it later'. And he never had to come back to it later," Mr Burk said.

During a career spanning six decades Charles won 13 Grammys and made more than 250 recordings. He is also credited with transforming the genre of soul music.

Charles' final album was dedicated to duets with other artists, including Norah Jones, Van Morrison and Sir Elton John.

Charles' life is about to celebrated on the big screen with a biographical feature film Ray, starring Collateral co-star Jamie Foxx.