Ray Charles, born in Albany, Georgia on 23 September 1930, was a pioneering soul musician who fundamentally transformed American music by breaking significant racial boundaries in country music. Despite losing his sight to glaucoma at age seven, he became one of the most innovative and influential figures in music history, helping to bridge the segregated musical genres of the Civil Rights era.

Charles mastered multiple instruments and uniquely learned to read and write music using Braille. His breakthrough came in 1954 with "I Got a Woman," credited as the birth of soul music. In 1962, his twin albums Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music made him the first Black artist to take full creative control of his recordings; the first album topped the Billboard 200 and "I Can't Stop Loving You" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, winning three Grammy Awards. These albums introduced country music to a wider mainstream audience and influenced future artists such as Willie Nelson and Buck Owens.