"Georgia On My Mind" was written by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) and first recorded by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra in 1930. Carmichael was an actor, performer, and popular songwriter - some of his other compositions include "
Stardust" and "Winter Moon." Gorrell was a banker living in New York City.
The song is a loving tribute, but it's likely that Georgia in the song is a woman, not the US state. The song's writers, Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, didn't live in Georgia, but Carmichael had a sister named Georgia. And note the body parts in the lyrics:
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
The song was widely recorded in the early '30s, with a 1931 version by the jazz saxophone player Frankie Trumbauer (with vocals by Art Jarrett) helping popularize it. The song has become a standard, with ,many artists recording it over the years, including Louis Armstrong, James Brown (a Georgia native), Django Reinhardt, and Willie Nelson. The 1960 Ray Charles version is by far the most famous.
Ray Charles decided to record this song after his driver, Tommy Brown, suggested it, since Ray kept singing it while riding in the car.
Ray Charles was born in Albany, Georgia. His family moved to Florida when he was still a baby.
The orchestra was arranged by Ralph Burns, Woody Herman's pianist.
The song was recorded quickly in New York City - it took only four takes to complete (compared to Charles' usual 10-12 takes). It was included on his classic album The Genius Hits The Road.
"Georgia On My Mind" won Grammy awards for Best Male Vocal Recording and Best Pop Song Performance. The album also won for Best Male Vocal Performance Album, and another song on the album, "Let the Good Times Roll," won for Best R&B Performance, giving Charles a total of four Grammys in 1960.
The Ray Charles version of "Georgia On My Mind" led to a number of contemporary covers, including four more that made the Hot 100:
Righteous Brothers (#62, 1966)
Wes Montgomery (#91, 1968 - this version is instrumental)
Willie Nelson (#84, 1978)
Michael Bolton (#36, 1990)
Ray Charles had five #1 R&B hits in the 1950s. The fifth, "
What'd I Say," was his crossover hit, going to #6 on the Hot 100. "Georgia On My Mind" was released in 1960 and went to #1 on the Hot 100, making him a household name. He had another #1 with "
Hit The Road Jack" in 1961 and again with "
I Can't Stop Loving You" in 1962. His later songs didn't have the same chart impact, but Charles remained a vital recording artist until his death in 2004.
On April 24, 1979, this became the official state song of Georgia, replacing a song titled "Georgia" that dates to the 1920s. Ray Charles performed it at the ceremony that day, where it was decreed:
The song "Georgia on My Mind," with lyrics by Mr. Stuart Gorrell and music by Mr. Hoagy Carmichael, has an enduring quality that has made it one of the best loved songs in America for many years.
Although "Georgia on My Mind" describes a Georgian's love for his state, its beautiful melody and lyrics have given the song a worldwide appeal.
"Georgia on My Mind" has been recorded by many outstanding artists, but the rendition by Mr. Ray Charles, a native Georgian, which was first recorded in 1958, has been greatly enjoyed by music lovers throughout the world.
It is appropriate that the official State song should be a beautiful song that has wide appeal throughout the country, and "Georgia on My Mind" is an outstanding example of these qualities.
Willie Nelson sang "Georgia On My Mind" at Ray Charles' funeral in 2004.
Charles won eight awards at the Grammy Awards in 2005, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year (for Genius Loves Company). He died eight months before the ceremony, and was honored throughout the show, with Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx performing "Georgia On My Mind" as part of the tribute. Foxx had recently portrayed Charles in the movie Ray.
Willie Nelson's version was recorded for his 1978 album
Stardust, a collection of pop standards. Rick Blackburn, an executive at CBS Records Nashville who went on to become president of Atlantic Records, thought Nelson was nuts for taking on the project, thinking it would alienate his growing fanbase. Blackburn recalled Nelson's response in the 1988 biography
Willie: "Willie said, 'Great songs are great songs no matter when they're written. The other thing is, my audience right now is young, college age, and mid-twenties. They'll think these are new songs, and at the same time we'll get the sentiment of the older audience who grew up with these songs but don't necessarily know the artist. We will bridge that gap."
Nelson was right. The album went to #1 on the Country albums chart and stayed on the chart for 10 years. His rendition of "Georgia On My Mind" was also a #1 hit on the Country singles chart and earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1979.
An instrumental version of "Georgia On My Mind" was the theme song for the first five seasons of the TV series
Designing Women, which debuted in 1986 and starred Jean Smart, Dixie Carter, Delta Burke and Annie Potts as operators of an interior design company in Atlanta. For the sixth and final season, the intro was Ray Charles singing the song with the
cast gathered around his piano.
"Georgia On My Mind" entered the public domain in 2026, 95 years after it was published. That means anyone can record the song without paying for it, but Ray Charles' recording remains under copyright.
