Artist: Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson Sr. was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius".

Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining  blues, jazz,  rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for  Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music  during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds  albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. 

Charles's 1960 hit "Georgia on My Mind" was the first of his three career No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became his first album to top the  Billboard 200. 

Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He had a lifelong friendship and occasional partnership with Quincy Jones. 

For his musical contributions, Charles received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and the Polar Music Prize. He was one of the inaugural inductees at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He has won 18 Grammy Awards (5 posthumously), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four or five, and was blind by the age of seven, likely as a result of glaucoma. Destitute, uneducated, and mourning the loss of her younger son, Aretha Robinson used her connections in the local community to find a school that would accept a blind African-American pupil.

Charles further developed his musical talent at school and was taught to play the  classical piano music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. His teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, taught him how to use braille music, a difficult process that requires learning the left hand movements by reading braille with the right hand and learning the right hand movements by reading braille with the left hand, then combining the two parts. 

Late in 1954, Charles recorded "I've Got a Woman," which combined  gospel, jazz, and blues elements. In 1955, he had hits with "This Little Girl of Mine" and "A Fool for You". In upcoming years, hits included "Drown in My Own Tears" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So". 

Charles also recorded jazz, such as The Great Ray Charles (1957). He worked with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, releasing Soul Brothers in 1958 and Soul Meeting in 1961. By 1958, he was not only headlining major black venues such as the Apollo Theater in New York, but also larger venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival, where his first live album was recorded in 1958.