Often nicknamed “the genius,” Ray Charles was a groundbreaking and iconic pianist, composer, bandleader, and vocalist — and he is a Musicheads Essential artist. 

Born Ray Charles Robinson in 1930 in Albany, Georgia, Ray Charles grew up in Florida, where he first became enchanted by the sound of the piano at age three, hearing it played in a local café. By age seven, Ray Charles lost his vision, likely due to glaucoma. He began formal musical training at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, but after Charles's mother died in 1945, he left to pursue a career as a piano player and vocalist. Moving to Seattle, Ray Charles made strides in his professional career, and he met Quincy Jones, who became a lifelong friend. 

In 1952, Ray Charles signed with Atlantic Records and recorded the song "Mess Around," which became his first hit. In the mid-'50s, Charles scored another hit with "I've Got a Woman," which was later covered by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and inspired Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.” By the end of the decade, Charles was touring with his signature ensemble of backing vocalists, the Raelettes.  Their spirited call-and-response tune "What'd I Say" hit No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 6 on the Billboard Pop chart. In the early 1960s, Ray Charles's pop hits continued with "Georgia on My Mind," a reworking of a Hoagy Carmichael tune, and "Hit The Road, Jack." 

Already known for his ability to blend jazz, rhythm and blues and gospel, Ray Charles displayed Nashville chops in 1962, with the release of his million-selling album, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music," which included the megahit single, "I Can't Stop Loving You."  

Ray Charles was also a voice of the Civil Rights movement — notably boycotting a 1961 concert at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, because floor tickets were reserved for white patrons and Black ticketholders were relegated to the balcony. In 1963, Ray Charles returned triumphant to the Bell Auditorium to play a show for an integrated audience. To this date, the Ray Charles Foundation provides funding for hearing disorder research, historically Black colleges and universities, and the education of underprivileged youth.  

In 1979, Charles’s version of "Georgia on My Mind" was named Georgia’s state song, and he returned to perform the song in the State Capitol building in Atlanta. 

Ray Charles' many other honors include 13 Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award. In 1986, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he received a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. 

Ray Charles died at age 73 in the year 2004 — the same year his life story was immortalized in the Hollywood film, Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, who won the Best Actor Oscar for the role. But Ray Charles' permanent place in the musical firmament was already well established — and his influence on artists like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Joel, to Norah Jones and Jon Batiste, continues to this day.