Early years
Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930(1930-09-23). He was the son of Aretha Williams, who stacked boards in a sawmill, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman. The two were never married. The family moved to Greenville, Florida, when Ray was an infant. Bailey had three more families, leaving Aretha to raise the family on her own. When Charles was five, he witnessed his younger brother, George, drown in a large portable laundry tub.
Ray Charles began to go blind when he was five. He became totally blind by the age of seven. Charles never knew exactly why he lost his sight, though there are sources which suggest his blindness was due to glaucoma, and some other sources suggest that Ray began to lose his sight from an infection caused by soapy water to his eyes which was left untreated.[citation needed] He attended school at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida. He also learned how
More about Ray Charles (From Wikipedia)
Early Years
Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia on September 23, 1930(1930-09-23). He was the son of Aretha Williams, who stacked boards in a sawmill, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad read more...
Success Years
Almost immediately after signing with Atlantic, Charles scored his first hit singles with the label with "It Should Have Been Me" and the Ertegun-composed "Mess Around", both making read more...
Later Years
In 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for nearly 20 years. It was his third arrest for the offence, but he avoided jail time read more...
Final Appearances
In 2000, Charles made a special guest appearance on Blue's Clues Big Musical Movie as a fictional character named G-Clef. The Persuasions also made a guest appearance as his companions. read more...
Controversies And Criticisms
Despite his support of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s and his support for the American Civil Rights Movement, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981, read more...
Personal Life And Death
Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children by 9 different women. His first marriage to Eileen Williams was brief: July 31, 1951 to 1952. He has three children from his second read more...
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American pianist and singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues. read more...
Charles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the read more...
Besides winning dozens of Grammy Awards in his career, Charles was also honored in many other ways. In 1979, he was one of the first honorees of the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame read more...