Ray Charles in the 1950s by Hayley Hughes

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930- June 10, 2004) is known for being one of the first artists to combine Gospel and R&B music, creating Soul music in the fifties and he had a major influence on the development of the Rock & Roll genre. The strongest element in Ray Charles' life and the most focused driving force, was music. Ray often said, "I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know"("Ray Charles"). 

Ray was born at the beginning of the Great Depression, which affected not only the United States of America, but "every civilized country in the world"("American Masters").  Ray was born Albany, Georgia where he got a severe eye infection when he was seven years old causing him to be blind for the rest of his life. At fifteen years old, he was now a orphan and having to live in very harsh conditions of being of African American heritage and living in the south, plus being blind on top of that. 

Despite all of Rays hardships, he continued his education in St. Augustine at Florida's State School for the Deaf and Blind where he learned how to play piano.  From here on out his love for music took off. After a few years, he moved to Seattle, Washington where Ray recorded his first record. From then on "In just about every Hall of Fame that has anything to do with music, be it R&B, Jazz, Rock & Roll, Gospel or Country, Ray's name is very prominently displayed"("Ray Charles").  He has won so many awards that they are too numerous to mention all of them, but it is important to acknowledge the "eight honorary doctoral degrees, seventeen Grammys, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, President’s Merit Award and his Playboy Jazz Awards"("Ray Charles"). On top of all those honors, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #10 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and #2 on their list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” When Ray Charles died at the age of 73 years old, two months before the release of his final album “Genius Loves Company”, which sold “over 5 million copies earning 8 Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year” and “4 months before the release of his Academy Award winning feature film, Ray” which portrays his early life, rise to fame, procrastination with drug addiction and involvement in the civil rights movement. Ray remains the most critically acclaimed “musical bio-pic because of the manner in which it told the story of one of America’s greatest entertainers” ("Ray Charles").

Ray's influence on other musicians and singers cannot be minimized. “Frank Sinatra  called him "the only true genius" in popular music, Billy Joel was hugely influenced by his piano playing and singing, the members of The Beatles all expressed their admiration for his achievements, with Paul McCartney crediting him as his reason for getting into music”("Ray Charles").

. "About Ray Charles ." American Masters . PBS , 17 2006. Web. 20 Nov 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/ray-charles/about-ray-charles/554/>.

. "Biography: Ray Charles ." Ray Charles . The Ray Charles Foundation . Web. 20 Nov 2012. <http://raycharles.com/>.