How did Ray Charles play piano while blind?

A Yamaha KX88 keyboard, owned by Ray Charles, complete with braille stickers, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Ray Charles did not lose his sight until he was about seven years old. I lost my sight when I was seven. So blindness didn’t have anything to do with it.

How did Ray Charles write music?

He was blind by the age of 7, and his mother sent him to a state-sponsored school, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida — where he learned to read, write and arrange music in Braille. He also learned to play piano, organ, sax, clarinet and trumpet.

Did Ray Charles write his own music?

Not only did he write songs that stand the test of time, but his interpretations of other songwriters’ tunes could turn them into royalty-generating goldmines. Charles wrote classics like “What’d I Say?” and made other songwriters’ tunes into hits as well.

Would Ray Charles read braille?

At the school, Charles not only learned braille and sign language as a means of communicating with the deaf children, but also braille music. When Louis Braille first invented the system of raised dots that could be read by fingertip in 1824, he soon later devised braille music.

How did Ray Charles go blind?

At an early age, his vision began to deteriorate, and by age seven, Ray was completely blind. The cause of his blindness was believed to be glaucoma. Shortly after losing his vision in 1937, Ray Charles was sent to St. Augustine, Florida to attend a special school for the deaf and visually impaired.

How did Ray Robinson go blind?

Although the young Ray Charles—born Ray Charles Robinson—began to lose his sight at the age of 5, not long after witnessing his brother’s drowning, his eventual blindness was medical, not traumatic. At the age of 7, he became completely blind when his right eye was removed due to intense pain.

What was Ray Charles known for?

Ray Charles, original name Ray Charles Robinson, (born September 23, 1930, Albany, Georgia, U.S.—died June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California), American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, a leading entertainer billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based …

How many songs Ray Charles wrote?

As a songwriter, Charles penned nearly 200 songs. He also operated his own publishing companies, Tangerine Music and Racer Music. On the Billboard Hot 100, Charles had 80 hits between 1958 (the year the chart began) and 1990, when “I’ll Be Good to You” became his last Hot 100 single, reaching No.

What did Ray Charles go blind from?

glaucoma
Born Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, he was raised in Greenville, Florida, and started playing the piano before he was five. At age six, he contracted glaucoma that eventually left him blind.

Did Ray Charles born blind?

Born Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, he was raised in Greenville, Florida, and started playing the piano before he was five. At age six, he contracted glaucoma that eventually left him blind.

What was Ray Charles real name?

Ray Charles Robinson
Ray Charles/Full name

Ray Charles, original name Ray Charles Robinson, (born September 23, 1930, Albany, Georgia, U.S.—died June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California), American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, a leading entertainer billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early development of soul music, a style based …