LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ray Charles, who overcame poverty, blindness and heroin addiction to create soul music and become one of America's most beloved entertainers, died on Thursday at the age of 73 after a long fight with liver disease, his spokesman said.
Charles, hailed as "The Father of Soul" and best known for such hits as "Georgia On My Mind" and "Hit the Road Jack," died at 11:35 a.m. PDT (2:35 p.m. EDT) at his Beverly Hills home, surrounded by family, friends and business associates, according to the singer's longtime publicist Jerry Digney.
The legendary entertainer made his last public appearance on April 30, turning up in a motorized wheelchair for a ceremony dedicating his longtime recording studio in Los Angeles as an historic landmark.
Visibly frail, his voice reduced to a whisper, Charles' demeanor then was a far cry from the wildly enthusiastic performer known to millions of fans for more than half a century...
Blind since the age of 6 from glaucoma, Charles collected 13 Grammy Awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement honor in 1987. He played his 10,000th concert last May at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and in 2002 celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first hit on the country music charts, "I Can't Stop Loving You."
But Charles made his biggest mark in the 1950s by blending the spirituality of gospel music he learned in the black churches of his childhood with the sensuality of the blues to create an emotionally raw new genre called soul.
Soul helped pave the way for such performers as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke and the birth of rock 'n' roll.
Picked by Mr. 50s.