Genius & Friends is a 2005 studio album by rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, consisting of previously unreleased duets between Charles and musicians recorded during 1997 to 2005. (some apparently in the year after his death!) The contributing artists were personally chosen by Charles.

Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American television personality who currently co-hosts the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends along with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. An accomplished violinist and winner of the 1989 Miss America Pageant while representing her native Minnesota, Carlson graduated from Stanford University before embarking on a career as a television journalist. Gaining experience as anchor and reporter for several local network affiliates before joining CBS News as correspondent in 2000, she later became co-host of the Saturday Early Show. In 2005 Carlson moved to Fox News and became the regular co-host of Fox & Friends a year later. Carlson continues to work with the Miss America pageant and serves as a national celebrity spokesperson for March of Dimes.

Carlson was raised in Anoka, Minnesota and graduated from Anoka-Hennepin School District 11's Anoka High School, where she was the 1984 class valedictorian. One of her childhood nannies was Michele Bachmann, the future Republican congresswoman. Growing up, Carlson was an accomplished violinist winning numerous local and national competitions. She performed as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra as an 8th grader and was the Concertmistress for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony. She spent five summers studying at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Winner of several Concerto Competitions at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, she was also featured as a soloist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Travis Porter is an American hip hop act from Decatur, Georgia. Ali and Quez are step brothers; the two met Strap while attending the same middle school. The three grew up together and in 2006 began exploring music. The group’s biggest hits are "Go Shorty Go","Bananas", "Ayy Ladies", "Bring It Back" and "Make It Rain" produced by F-K-I. Travis Porter released a biographical film titled Proud to be a Problem on May 18, 2010. Travis Porter has a YouTube channel with over 100 million views and a Twitter page. In November 2010 the trio signed with Jive Records.

Besides performing throughout the USA, Travis Porter has performed internationally. In 2008 the trio took a tour through , Kaiserslautern, Germany and Bamberg, Germany. They appeared in one of Atlanta’s biggest concerts, Birthday Bash, during the summer of 2010 and on the The Mo'Nique Show. They performed with Canada’s own Drake at BMI’s Unsigned Artist showcase in Atlanta.

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.”

The influences upon his music were mainly jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and country artists of the day such as Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, Louis Armstrong. His playing reflected influences from country blues and barrelhouse, and stride piano styles.

Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"