Ray charles childhood biography
Ray charles childhood biography
Ray charles biography - life, family, children, name, story!
Ray Charles
(1930-2004)
Who Was Ray Charles?
Ray Charles was a legendary musician who pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s.
Often called the "Father of Soul," Charles combined blues, gospel and jazz to create groundbreaking hits such as "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind." He died in 2004, leaving a lasting impression on contemporary music.
Early Life
Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia.
His father, a mechanic, and his mother, a sharecropper, moved the family to Greenville, Florida when he was an infant. One of the most traumatic events of his childhood was witnessing the drowning death of his younger brother.
Soon after his brother's death, Charles gradually began to lose his sight.
He was blind by the age of 7, and his mother sent him to a state-sponsored school, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida — where he learned t