Ray Charles is being remembered today not only for overcoming blindness, poverty, and a heroin addiction, but for his immeasurable impact on music of all genres.

Charles, who died on Thursday after a year-long battle with liver disease at age 73, was never bound to one style.

The 12-time Grammy winner could be classified in several categories: blues, R&B, jazz, gospel, swing, rock, and even country. Frank Sinatra once called him “the only genius in the business.” Charles was an original inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Born Ray Charles Robinson, he dropped his last name so he wouldn’t be confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. He became blind at age six from glaucoma, and was jailed for possession of heroin at age 35. Though know for such hits as “Georgia on My Mind” and “What’d I Say,” he may be most famous for “You Are My Sunshine.”






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