Blind musician
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson born on 23 September 1930 was a blind musician who brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his modern sound recordings. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Charles No. 10 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of all Time and Frank Sinatra said he was the "only true genius in the business".
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Ray was taught only classical music at school but wanted to play the Jazz and Blues he heard on the radio. In the early part of his career, Charles went to Orlando, then to Tampa, playing piano with a hillbilly band called The Florida Playboys. Charles wanted to start his own band and moved to Seattle where he achieved his first hit 'Confession Blues' in 1949 for Swingtime Records. His only other hit with Swingtime came in 1951 with 'Baby Let me hold your Hand' which reached No. 5 in the R&B charts.
Charles signed to Atlantic Records and soon after came to national prominence with the 1955 hit 'I Got a Woman' which reached No. 1 in the Billboard charts. A series of hits followed including 'The Little Girl of Mine', 'Lonely Avenue', 'Mary Ann', 'Drown in My Own Tears' and the No. 5 hit 'The Night Time'.
During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss. However, during the 80 and 90’s he found success again through appearances on TV shows such as The Super Dave Osbourne Show.
Ray Charles died in the year of 2004 of liver cancer at his home in California.
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