Ray Davies was born on June 21, 1944 in Fortis Green, which is located in Muswell Hill, north of London, England. He was the seventh of eighth children, and with his younger brother Dave, he was one of the only two boys in his family. In 1963, he joined Dave's band The Ravens on rhythm guitar and vocals. He later rose to the position of chief songwriter and singer. Between 1964 and 1965, The Kinks released other hits such as "All Day and All of the Night", "Til the End of the Day", "Tired of Waiting for You", and others. Unfortunately, like most brothers, Ray and Dave Davies often were prone to sibling rivalry, and could act violent towards each other and the rest of the band. This behavior may have contributed to the American Musicians Union issuing a four-year touring ban against them. Since this would prevent them from enjoying the prosperity of the British Invasion that their contemporaries enjoyed, Ray decided to seek a new direction in songwriting. His songs would reflect on his childhood and the days of the British empire, when the class system was going strong, and poverty was great. This style was evident on The Kinks' next four albums, Face To Face (1966), Something Else by The Kinks (1967), The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), and Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1969). In 1970, they released perhaps their most famous LP, Lola Vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part 1. This record spawned their trademark "Lola", along with other great songs such as "Apeman", "Get Back in Line", "Powerman", and others. Muswell Hillbillies followed the next year, which was perhaps their last commercially successful album. From the 1970s in the early 1990s, the Kinks' career proved to be a roller coaster of commercial success, and failure. Perhaps part of the reason for this was the bitter rivalry between Dave and Ray Davies which could never be fully resolved. The band went through a revolving door of backing musicians, and in the mid-1990s, the Kinks split up. Today Ray Davies performs solo. He has four solo albums to date and is also involved in theater and television. In early 2004, he gallantly chased after a thief who stole his girlfriend's purse, and was shot in the leg. A week before that, he was award ed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth for his services to music. He has since recovered and continues to perform. His influence has been significant. He has gained a considerable following in his own native Britain, and Pete Townshend from The Who has credited him as his favorite songwriter.

Rock musician ( The Kinks ).Older brother of Dave Davies .Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of The Kinks ) in 1990.Fathered a child, Natalie Rae Hynde, with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders while still married to his second wife.His song "Apeman" was covered by former Marillion singer Fish on his album "Songs From the Mirror" (released 1993).Sadly, he has barely been on speaking terms with his brother and musical collaborator Dave since they recorded their last album as The Kinks in the early 1990s.He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2003 Queen's New Year's Eve Honours List for his services to music.In 2003, when a mugger stole his girlfriend's purse, he valiantly chased the man but was then shot in the leg by the thief.He has another daughter with dancer, Pat Crosby.He is the uncle of writer/producer, Lawrence Kane , who helped Ray recover from his gunshot wound in New Orleans.Davies was in many ways unique among the frontmen in British rock bands from the 1960s. He never got into drugs or affiliated himself with "hippie" culture (nor did his band), although The Kinks did present themselves as hard-drinking. Davies was also never a Lothario in the ranks with his contemporaries, and he married at a very young age. By all accounts a quiet, unapproachable type off stage, Davies had a series of nervous breakdowns as a young man, which led to him being hospitalized twice.Director Wes Anderson originally intended to have the whole of Rushmore (1998) set to songs by The Kinks . Anderson changed his mind when he wanted to use a series of songs by other bands from the "British Invasion", although he kept the Davies/Kinks song, "Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl".Pete Townshend has said that Ray Davies' is probably his favorite songwriter of all time.The Kinks ' single, "See My Friends", was the first British songs (and possibly Western) to integrate a Indian, sitar-like sound. This song and, shortly thereafter, the similarly sitar-based "Fancy" preceded the first Beatles song with an Indian feel, "Norwegian Wood", by a year.Probably the best known of covers of Kinks songs are The Jam 's cover of "David Watts", The Pretenders' take on "Stop Your Sobbing", and Van Halen 's version of "You Really Got Me", but The Kinks have been covered literally hundreds of times by hundreds of artists.When The Kinks opened a show on the same bill as The Beatles, The Beatles (in particularly John Lennon ) behaved rudely and dismissively towards them. However, when The Kinks released their more introspective album "Face to Face", Lennon was said to have listened to it obsessively.The original name of The Kinks was The Ravens.The Kinks were voted the 64th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.With four to five band members at one time, there have been 11 members of The Kinks , with only Ray and his brother Dave Davies having belonged since the founding of the group. They have gone through two drummers ( Mick Avory and Bob Henrit), three keyboardists (John Gosling, Gordon Edwards, and Ian Gibbins ), and four bass-guitarists ( Peter Quaife , John Dalton, Andy Pyle, and Jim Rodford ).In an early stage of The Kinks , before Davies was willing to be the lead singer, they recruited Rod Stewart (who grew up in the same area as the Davies brothers, Muswell Hill) as a singer. After a couple of weeks of trying to be a band, Stewart and the future Kinks found that they did not get along that well, with their musical tastes being too different, and parted ways."Very Gothic, creepy and silent. Uptight and fearful of everyone." - Marianne Faithfull 's description of Davies and The Kinks .Winner of the 2006 Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.His song "Waterloo Sunset" won the 2005 Q Classic Song Award.The Kinks were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. (16 November 2005).He is a big fan of and considers himself in the tradition of William Blake .Despite its heavy guitar sound, he actually wrote "You Really Got Me" on his parent's piano.He was born in Muswell Hill, London, England. He and his brother Dave Davies have six older sisters. They lived on Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, London, England.Crouch End, London, England [May 2009]