The world premiere took place on September 12, 2004, at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.
Director Taylor Hackford obtained the rights to Ray Charles' life story in 1987 but struggled to find studio funding. The film was produced independently, and Universal Pictures later handled its distribution.
The entire film was funded by a single person, American businessman Philip Anschutz, through his company Bristol Bay Productions.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) wears a watch from the Russian brand Raketa.
For director Taylor Hackford, this film completes an imaginary trilogy of movies about famous musicians, following La Bamba (Ritchie Valens) and the documentary Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.
Jamie Foxx wore opaque contact lenses for 14 hours a day to simulate blindness. He also learned to play the piano specifically for the role.
The script was translated into Braille for Ray Charles to read, but he passed away on June 10, 2004, shortly after filming ended and before the film's release.
United States