Blinded by glaucoma at 7, orphaned at 15, 2 failed marriages, single for 52 yrs

I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind."
-Ray Charles in a Washington Post interview, 1983

Deteriorating rapidly after a hip replacement last year, Ray Charles was diagnosed with a failing liver, but kept on working on what would be his last CD, "Genius Loves Company." Surrounded by family and friends, Charles died of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 am. Charles, who was divorced twice and single since 1952, was survived by 12 children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Ray Charles Robinson was born Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Ga. (He later dropped his last name for the stage, in deference to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.) Charles began dabbling in music at age 3, encouraged by a cafe owner who played the piano. Charles began losing his sight at age 5. Although Charles was influenced by many musical greats including Duke Ellington and Count Basie, jazz greats Art Tatum and Artie Shaw, the most influential persons in his life were the local piano player/cafe owner and his mother. His mother encouraged his independence, preparing him for the day when he would be totally blind. Thus, Charles indicates that when he was blinded by glaucoma at age 7, it was not a traumatic experience because he was prepared for it. Orphaned at age 15, however, Charles became severely depressed at the passing of his brother and his mother and that depression could have stopped history, but a family friend reminded Charles that his mother would have wanted him to go on. This could have been the end of Ray Charles Robinson, but it was only the beginning of a 58-year career  for Ray Charles. 

He put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South. Smiling and swaying behind the piano, grunts and moans peppering his songs, Charles' appeal spanned generations. His first big hit was 1959's ''What'd I Say,'' a song built off a simple piano riff with suggestive moaning from the Raeletts. Some U.S. radio stations banned the song, but Charles was on his way to stardom. He was called ''The Genius'' and was playing at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival

Charles won nine of his 12 Grammy Awardsbetween 1960 and 1966, including the best R&B recording three consecutive years (''Hit the Road Jack,'' ''I Can't Stop Loving You'' and ''Busted'').His versions of other songs are also well known, including ''Makin' Whoopee'' and a stirring ''America the Beautiful,'' which he sang for the late President Reagan at his 1985 inaugural ball

His last Grammy came in 1993 for ''A Song for You,'' but he never dropped out of the music scene until illness sidetracked him last summer.

Ray Charles could have given up when he became blind at age 7. He could have given up at the age of 15 when he lost his little brother and his mother. He could have given up when both of his marriages failed. He could have given up in his loneliness of being single for 52 years of his life. The broken pieces of his life added to his addiction to heroin, but getting arrested at the airport made him see the light at quitting his 20-year addiction "cold turkey." What remarkable strength! Whether or not he realized it, Ray Charles used music as therapy for his troubles and in the end, his music inspires us to believe that no matter what life brings us, it takes courage to pick ourselves up after one fall but even more courage to pick ourselves up after many of life's obstacles and falls.