"Ray Charles: Music Legend Dies at 73"

"I was born with music inside me," said legendary musician Ray Charles. "Music was one of my parts... Like my blood. It was a necessity for me, like food or water." After 50 years of entertaining the world, Ray Charles has died at the age of 73.

He was born Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia. His family moved to Florida when Ray was a baby. By the age of seven Charles was totally blind. His mother enrolled him in the Florida state School for the Blind in St. Augustine. For years administrators at the state schools for the blind all over the country did not know exactly what to do with the children; music was an answer. And for many the music they learned at a state school for the blind was a way out and up. The program produced some very talented and successful musicians – Ronnie Milsap, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles to name a few. www.soulshine.ca

World pays tribute to Ray Charles

Tributes poured in from the music world following the death of American legend Ray Charles, the "Genius" credited with virtually inventing soul music.

Top names in the recording industry united in mourning Charles, who died on Friday (AEST) at the age of 73 of complications from liver disease, after a year of health problems.

"He was a fabulous man, full of humour and wit," said fellow music legend Aretha Franklin. "A giant of an artist and, of course, he introduced the world to secular soul singing," she said in a statement.

The 13-time Grammy Award winner's musical legacy was praised by his lifelong friend and collaborator Quincy Jones, the renowned music producer. www.theage.com.au