Genius & Friends is a posthumous album by Ray Charles, released on November 1, 2005, one year after his death. The album features collaborations recorded between 1997 and 2005 with various guest artists, including Elton John, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Michael McDonald, Johnny Mathis, Ruben Studdard, Idina Menzel, Gladys Knight, and others.
The album was produced by multiple producers, including Phil Ramone, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, David Foster, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and was supervised by Rhino Records. It includes both original songs and covers of classics, conceived as a tribute to Charles's ability to blend genres such as soul, jazz, pop, and R&B.
Although it received mixed reviews due to its posthumous nature and stylistic variety, Genius & Friends peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The lead single, 'You Don't Know Me' (with Diana Krall), was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2006.