After being married for 22 years, the couple divorced in 1977 due to Charles’ struggles with drug abuse and extramarital affairs. Their marriage resulted in three children: Ray Jr (b.

The son of Southern sharecroppers, Ray Charles Robinson was raised in Georgia and Florida. He learned to play boogie-woogie at a young age, despite being beset by glaucoma and blindness.

That does include, by the way, his three children with Bea. But oh brother, there are many others. In 1949, Charles’ first child, Evelyn Robinson, was born to Louise Flowers. Ray and David ...