Biographie

He was married twice and had many girlfriends. He had 12 children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Blind from glaucoma since age 6.

He struggled with a heroin addiction for nearly 20 years before quitting cold turkey in 1965 after an arrest at the Boston airport.

Hired for a car commercial, he actually drove a car without assistance - in the Death Valley desert. He said that it was one of the most exciting experiences of his life.

Despite his blindness, he was a chess-playing fanatic who was known to set up games between sets and concerts.

I never considered myself part of rock 'n' roll. My stuff was more adult. It was more difficult for teenagers to relate to; my stuff was filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. Since I couldn't see people dancing, I didn't write jitterbugs or twists. I wrote rhythms that moved me. My style required pure heart singing.

Soul is when you take a song and make it a part of you - a part that's so true, so real, people think it must have happened to you. It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, do we? But it's a force that can light a room. Soul is like electricity, like a spirit, a drive, a power.

Music has been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal.

I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat 'King' Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchly, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.

I am very into lyrics. I start with what the words are saying, what the storyline is saying, like a good script. It should really capture me, do something for me. If I don't get it, it's not going to move people, and if it's not going to move people, it's not going to happen. I don't think I'm good because I'm blind, I think I'm good because I'm good.