The late, great Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson, American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, billed as “the Genius” was born Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Ga., U.S. Charles developed soul music, a style melding of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz. When Charles was an infant, his family moved to Greenville, Fla. He began his musical career at age five on a piano in a neighborhood café. He began to go blind at six, possibly from glaucoma, completely losing his sight by seven. His father had died when he was 10. He attended the State School for the Blind in St. Augustine to study music, but at age 15 after his mother died from cancer he quit school to play professionally. Charles success was a result of his ability to put emotion in his performances. Borrowing Nat King Cole's style in the late 1940s, Charles emerged as a blues and jazz pianist. He recorded the “Mess Around” and “It Should've Been Me” in 1952–53. His arrangement for Guitar Slim's “The Things That I Used to Do” became a blues million-seller in 1953. By 1954, Charles had created a successful combination of blues and gospel influences and signed on with Atlantic Records. He made such hit records as “I've Got a Woman,” “Hallelujah I Love You So,” and “What'd I Say,” Charles's first million-seller leading rhythm and blues charts in 1959. Charles's rhythmic piano playing and band revived the “funky” quality of jazz and many other musical genres. “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) and “Hit the Road, Jack” (1961) were best sellers. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962) sold more than 1,000,000 copies, so did its single, “I Can't Stop Loving You.” Charles toured extensively with his large band and a female back-up quartet, The Raeletts. He appeared on television and was as featured act and sound track composer in the Ballad in Blue (1964) and The Blues Brothers (1980). He formed his own recording labels, Tangerine in 1962 and Crossover Records in 1973. He received 10 Grammy Awards for recording excellence and published an autobiography, Brother Ray, Ray Charles' Own Story (1978), written with David Ritz.