Ray Charles Robinson

A hero is someone who never gives up when they are faced with a problem. Ray Charles Robinson was a blind musician. He was born September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia he died in June 2004. Ray Charles had a hard life. He was born during the Great Depression. Then at age six, he began to be blind. His brother drowned the same year. He would always have these flashbacks of his brother drowning. He was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. At an early age Charles began doing drugs. Charles had been addicted to drugs for 20 years. He died at age 73 from liver disease.

Ray Charles was not worried about being blind. He had been a musician before and was going to keep being a musician. Blindness did not do anything to his life. Blindness did not give him anything and it did not take anything. That’s what Ray Charles said when asked about his blindness. Charles summed up the effect of blindness on his career as, “nothing, nothing, and nothing."

His musical style is jazz and blues. He was a pioneer of soul. Soul is a mixture of gospel, rhythm, blues and jazz. In 2004 he was ranked tenth by Rolling Stone out of the 100 best musicians of all time. Ray Charles had a lot of hits and Grammies.

Ray Charles had a foundation for people that are deaf. He also has a foundation for youth education of the deaf. It was called the Ray Charles Foundation. It was a good foundation for good causes. His foundation is still around today. Ray Charles was a good man. He liked to help people.

His life story showed me that if you have a problem, you can overcome it. He showed me that anything could happen as long as you try. He never gave up and he never stopped playing music. He will always be thought of as the person who never gave up.