In this photo, Ray Charles sings a tribute to Nat King Cole during induction ceremonies for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 06 March 2000 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Photo: AFP
American pianist and singer-songwriter Ray Charles was born on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia, US. He is said to have got curious about music at the age of three, when he heard musician Wylie Pitman play Boogie Woogie. However, he lost his eyesight completely by the time he was seven-years-old. In this photo, the wax figure of US musician Ray Charles is seen during the grand opening of the Grévin Montréal on April 17, 2013 at the Eaton Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Photo: AFP
Pitman was also responsible for teaching Charles how to play the piano. After he enrolled in a school for the deaf and blind, he was taught to play the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart on the piano using Braille. In his later years, he said American singer Nat King Cole was a major influence in his music. In this photo, Ray Charles sings a tribute to Nat King Cole during induction ceremonies for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 6, 2000 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Photo: AFP
In 1949, the pianist, who was also a composer, recorded, ‘Confession Blues’ with his Seattle band, McSon trio. It became his first hit to reach No 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was followed by ‘What’d I Say’, which had a mix of jazz, blues, gospel and Latin music, and reached the No 1 spot on the Billboard R&B chart in 1959. However, it was ‘Georgia On My Mind’ that turned out to be his first national hit single, which also won him two Grammys at the 1960 awards. In this photo, a mourner demonstrates a singing and moving Ray Charles musical toy outside the Los Angeles Convention Center where the music legend's casket was on public viewing on June 17, 2004. Photo: AFP
Among his many accolades, Charles was nominated 37 times for the Grammy Awards and won 18 times. While 13 were won when he was alive, the other five were won posthumously. He also won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987 and 10 of his recordings are even a part of the Grammy Hall of Fame. In this photo, Ray Charles's manager Joe Adams accepts the award for Album of the Year by the late Ray Charles during the 47th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 13, 2005. Photo: AFP
While Charles is known to be an all-time great musician, he also struggled with a drug problem. He was also known to love playing chess, which he learned while undergoing therapy for drug addiction. He used to play on a special chessboard with raised squares and holes for the pieces to be put into them. In 1986, Charles founded the Ray Charles Foundation to help financially support institutions in the research of hearing disorders. The name for the foundation, which was earlier known as The Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders, was changed in 2006. Photo: AFP
Ray Charles passed away on June 10, 2004 at the age of 73 due to health complications resulting in liver failure. Some of the all-time greats like Stevie Wonder, BB King, Glen Campbell and Wynton Marsalis played tributes at his funeral at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles. In this photo, blues musician B.B. King performs during the funeral for legendary singer and musician Ray Charles at the First AME Church in Los Angeles on June 18, 2004. Photo: AFP
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