Destitute, uneducated, and mourning the loss of her younger son, Aretha Robinson used her connections in the local community to find a school that would accept a blind African-American pupil. Ĭharles started to lose his sight at the age of four or five, and was blind by the age of seven, likely as a result of glaucoma. George accidentally drowned in his mother's laundry tub when he was four years old. Pitman would also care for Ray's younger brother George, to take some of the burden off their mother. Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe and even lived there when they were in financial distress.
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His musical curiosity was sparked at Wylie Pitman's Red Wing Cafe, at the age of three, when Pitman played boogie woogie on an old upright piano Pitman subsequently taught Charles how to play the piano. In his early years, Charles showed an interest in mechanical objects and would often watch his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. Ĭharles was deeply devoted to his mother and later recalled, despite her poor health and adversity, her perseverance, self-sufficiency, and pride as guiding lights in his life. Later, no one could remember who George's father was. By his first birthday, Charles had a brother, George. The father abandoned the family, left Greenville, and married another woman elsewhere. Aretha and Bailey's wife, who had lost a son, then shared in Charles's upbringing. After the birth of the child, Ray Charles, she and the infant Charles returned to Greenville. During the ensuing scandal, she left Greenville late in the summer of 1930 to be with family back in Albany. A few years later 15-year-old Aretha became pregnant by Bailey. The Robinson family-Bailey, his wife Mary Jane, and his mother- informally adopted her and Aretha took the surname Robinson. Bailey, a man her father worked with, took her in. He was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, and Aretha (or Reatha) Robinson (née Williams), a laundress, of Greenville, Florida.ĭuring Aretha's childhood, her mother died. Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia.
Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius".
(Septem– June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist.
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