Ray Charles Accomplishments

Ray Charles was a famous jazz composer. Because of being blind since he was 7 years old, he stood out even more to his fans. Charles was born on September 23, 1930 and he died on June 10, 2004. His music was a huge hit during the 1950’s. He was a great jazz composer to many because he was blind. He was able to play the piano extremely well for being blind. He loved composing making soul, blues, and jazz music and the people loved listening to it. Some people even called him “The High Priest of Soul". In 2004, the Rolling Stones named their top 100 favorite music artists. They ranked Charles at #1 on their list. Many consider Ray Charles as one of the best composers of all time. Charles’ childhood was somewhat depressing. He was born in September, 1930 to a poor family in Tampa, Florida. He then became an orphan after he became blind at age 7. He had been tested when he was older and he then found out that he had glaucoma which caused his blindness. This disease creates pressure on one’s eyes, which causes a gradual loss of vision. After he was considered legally blind, he went to The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. When he had turned 18, he moved to Seattle and lost all of his friends back in Tampa. He wanted to move as far away from where he was at the time. He began recording music after college at McNeese University, University of Houston. He was not very popular at the time and he did not make much money making music. But, he pushed through this difficult time and remained recording his great music. Since he continued to push through this hard time, it helped him receive experience and get better. He became famous and started getting a lot of money …show more content…
He was unique because he was blind and could still play many instruments such as the piano and organ. He was blind at the age of seven but still had the passion and hope that he could still play music as a