On June 10, 2004, the world lost one of the most iconic and influential singer-songwriters and pianists of all time: Ray Charles. Born on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia, Ray Charles Robinson, affectionately known as “The Genius,” left an indelible mark on music history.

He pioneered soul music during the 1950s for combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel style into the music he composed. While with ABC, Ray Charles was one of the first African-American musicians to have artistic control over the company for which he recorded.

He began to lose his vision at age 5, by the age of 7 he had gone completely blind, apparently from glaucoma. But this was not an impediment at the time of having an interest in music.

He and his family moved to Greenville, Florida, where he took classes between 1937 and 1945 at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, in the city of San Agustín, where he began to develop his musical skills and in which he learned to read and compose music in the Braille system.

His interest in jazz and blues surfaced when he listened to the radio. In the late 1940s, he managed to get a record on the charts in his country, and in 1951 he scored his first top 10 hit, thanks to “Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand.”

Throughout his career, Ray Charles achieved numerous hits on the Billboard charts, with 44 singles on the R&B chart, 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart, and 2 on the country singles chart. His ability to combine different musical genres and charisma on stage earned him great recognition and respect in the music industry.

As a pianist, his also marked and percussive style was almost unsurpassed within the black blues style. Overlapping chords, frenetic rhythm or soft and lilting melodies in the ballads are the most characteristic musical traits of Ray Charles on piano. He also played, although very anecdotally, the sax.

His broken voice, marked and tragic at times, melodious and sweet, and installed on the border of his own interpretive resources, constituted one of his best gifts.

Ray Charles’s passion and talent knew no bounds. Although he cited Nat King Cole as one of his early influences, his music was also influenced by artists such as Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. Even Frank Sinatra, one of music’s greats, called him “the only true genius in the music business,” though Charles humbly downplayed that opinion.

The singer had been presenting liver complications for years, due to which he died at the age of 73, on June 10, 2004 at his home in California.

The last recording he made in life, a duet album titled Genius loves company (in which Norah Jones, Van Morrison and B.B. King participated among others) was a true sales success that was placed at number 2 on the lists of best sellers in the United States. In February 2005, the album was awarded eight Grammy Awards at the 47th edition of this contest, including Best Album.

His legacy led him to be one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Music Hall of Fame and to win an honorary Grammy for his musical contributions.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Ray Charles tenth on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2009 the magazine published the list of the 100 best singers in history, which were chosen by singers and people related to music. Among all of them, Charles was named the best male singer and the second best singer of all time.

Ray Charles was much more than a talented singer and pianist; he was a true visionary, a music icon. His musical genius and his ability to break barriers continue to inspire artists and listeners of all generations. Although he is no longer with us, his music lives on, reminding us of the importance of passion and creative expression. Ray Charles, the immortal genius of music, will always live in our hearts.