Editing Ray Charles (section)

==Early life and education==
Charles was born on September 23, 1930, in [[Albany, Georgia]].{{efn|name="name"}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raycharles.com/the_man_biography.html|website=raycharles.com |title=Biography |access-date=September 22, 2013 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012222755/http://www.raycharles.com/the_man_biography.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 }}</ref> He was the son of Bailey Robinson, a laborer, and Aretha (or Reatha) Robinson (née Williams), a laundress, of [[Greenville, Florida]].

During Aretha's childhood, her mother died. Her father could not keep her. Bailey, a man her father worked with, took her in. The Robinson family—Bailey, his wife Mary Jane, and his mother informally adopted her and Aretha took the surname Robinson. A few years later, Bailey raped her, and Aretha became pregnant. During the ensuing scandal, she left Greenville late in the summer of 1930 to be with family back in Albany. After the birth of the child, Ray Charles, she and the infant Charles returned to Greenville. Aretha and Bailey's wife, who had lost a son, then shared in Charles' upbringing. The father had left Greenville and married another woman elsewhere. By his first birthday, Charles had a brother, George.<ref name=Autobio/>

Charles 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.

In his early years, Charles showed an interest in mechanical objects and often watched his neighbors working on their cars and farm machinery. 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. Charles and his mother were always welcome at the Red Wing Cafe and even lived there when they were in financial distress.<ref name=Autobio/> Pitman also cared for Ray's younger brother George, to take some of the burden off their mother. George accidentally drowned in his mother's laundry tub when he was four years old.<ref name=Autobio/><ref name="SwingMusicBio">{{cite web |last1=Parker |first1=Jeff |title=Ray Charles Biography |url=http://www.swingmusic.net/Ray_Charles_Biography.html |website=Swingmusic.net |access-date=December 16, 2018 |archive-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614172253/http://www.swingmusic.net/Ray_Charles_Biography.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four<ref name="NPR death">{{cite news |title=Ray Charles, American Legend, Dies at 73 |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1947628 |access-date=September 25, 2014 |publisher=NPR.org |date=June 11, 2004 |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410205940/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1947628 |url-status=live }}</ref> or five,<ref name="60min">Leung, Rebecca (October 14, 2004). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-genius-of-ray-charles-14-10-2004/ "The Genius of Ray Charles: ''60 Minutes'' Looks Back at the Life and Loves of a True Original"]  (about a 1986 segment on Charles from ''[[60 Minutes]]'').</ref> and was blind by the age of seven, likely as a result of [[glaucoma]].<ref name= boheme>{{cite web|last=Graham|first=Eamon|year=2004|url=http://www.boheme-magazine.net/july04/charles.html|title=Obituary: Ray Charles (1930–2004)|work=Bohème Magazine|access-date=March 2, 2014|archive-date=March 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307011421/http://www.boheme-magazine.net/july04/charles.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of his blindness, Charles donned his famous sunglasses. 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. Despite his initial protest, Charles attended school at the [[Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind]] in [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] from 1937 to 1945 and learned to play a variety of instruments including the [[piano]], [[alto saxophone]], [[clarinet]], [[trumpet]], and [[Organ (music)|organ]]. He focused primarily on the piano.<ref name= boheme>{{cite web|last=Graham|first=Eamon|year=2004|url=http://www.boheme-magazine.net/july04/charles.html|title=Obituary: Ray Charles (1930–2004)|work=Bohème Magazine|access-date=March 2, 2014|archive-date=March 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307011421/http://www.boheme-magazine.net/july04/charles.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Autobio/>

Charles further developed his musical talent at school, taking [[Classical music|classical]] piano lessons and learning the music of composers such as [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]], and [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]].<ref name= boheme/> His music teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, taught him to [[Sight-reading|read]] and write music [[braille music|using Braille]], a difficult process that requires learning the left hand movements by reading braille with the right hand and learning the right hand movements by reading braille with the left hand, then combining the two parts.

Charles' mother died in the spring of 1945, when he was 14. Her death came as a shock to him; he later said the deaths of his brother and mother were "the two great tragedies" of his life. Charles decided not to return to school after the funeral.<ref name=Autobio/>