Ray Charles Robinson was born in 1930 in Albany, Georgia. His family then moved to Florida when Ray was only a few months old. At the age of five, Ray witnessed his younger brother, George, drown in a bathtub. Ray tried to pull his brother out, but George proved to be too heavy for him. Soon after that incident Ray began to lose his sight. By the time he reached the age of seven, Ray had gone completely blind. The cause for his blindness was undetermined.

His father was never around much because he had to work and support two separate families. As a result, Ray was predominately raised by his mother Aretha, and his father’s wife, Mary Jane. After going blind he was allowed to attend the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind where he learned to read Braille and play musical instruments. While attending the school, both his mother and his father died.

Early in his career, Ray pegged himself as a ladies man. He married his first wife, Eileen Williams, in 1951. The couple had one child and then divorced in 1952. Charles then married again in 1955 to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson. The couple had three children together and divorced in 1977. In total, Ray has twelve children by seven different women. He admitted that he often had sexual encounters with the women who auditioned as his back-up singers.

Charles quickly achieved mainstream success, something that was rarely accomplished among jazz and blues musicians. By the late 1950’s Charles also began experimenting with pop music.

Ray Charles was a huge supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s, which was actually the cause of some controversy in the 1980’s. Charles decided to tour South Africa in 1981 even though the country was being boycotted at the time because of their strict policy on racial segregation. Upon his return to the United States many of his concerts were boycotted to show their disapproval of Charles. The United Nations then asked Charles not to return to South Africa until the apartheid policy had ended.

He also became famous for singing soft-drink commercials. In the 1990’s Charles also sang on his long-time friend’s, Quincy Jones, album, Back on the Block.

Ray Charles died in 2004. A film was then made about his personal life and work with the actor, Jamie Foxx portraying Ray Charles. He will always be remembered as a pioneering musician. His friend and colleague, Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in the business.”