Ray Stevens was born Harold Ray Ragsdale on January 24, 1939 in Clarkdale, Georgia, now part of Decatur. He is an American country music and pop singer-songwriter known for his novelty songs. His two most-popular songs are "Everything Is Beautiful" and "The Streak". Ray Stevens has won two Grammys, for "Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty".
Stevens' recording career began with two singles released on Prep Records, followed by a short stint with Capitol Records. Both these recording contracts were made with the help of Atlanta, Georgia music maven Bill Lowery. Stevens joined Lowery's National Recording Corporation in 1958, where he also was a member of the NRC staff band, playing numerous instruments, arranging, and doing background vocals. When NRC went into bankruptcy, he signed with Mercury Records, and started a series of hit records in the 1960s that included "Ahab the Arab" and "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green And Purple Pills".
Stevens became a producer and well-known studio musician on the Nashville scene, and recorded hits for Monument, Barnaby, Warner Brothers, MCA and RCA. Perhaps his most famous hit is "The Streak" (1974), which poked fun at the early-1970s " streaking" fad of running nude in public.
Stevens' biggest hit was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" ( 1970). A plea for love and tolerance during turbulent times in the United States, the song shot to Number 1 and remained there for weeks in some U.S. and British markets. Stevens has won two Grammy Awards: one for "Everything Is Beautiful" and one for the arrangement of his version of the jazz standard " Misty".
With the popularity of the song "Everything Is Beautiful", Stevens had a variety show on CTV. The Ray Stevens Show appeared in Canada in 1970 and soon appeared in the United States on NBC and the United Kingdom on the BBC. Although it only has eight episodes, it is mostly known for being the show that launched the career of regular cast member Steve Martin.
