American singer, musician, pianist and composer born in Albany, Georgia, U.S.A., considered one of the greatest American popular musicians, representative of the essence of black music in his country and inventor of soul, a musical style built from elements of gospel, blues and Jazz. From a humble family, he had an unhappy life trajectory in childhood and adolescence. Victim of glaucoma at age five, he lost his sight at age seven and was orphaned at age 16.
Not really, he abandoned his dream of becoming a great pianist and after learning to read and write songs in Braille, at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, Florida, he began to excel in various styles such as blues, gospel and Jazz.
He began to be successful (1955), becoming the artist who managed to stay the longest on the charts. He passed away in June 2004 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, USA, where he was with his family, victim of a fatal disease that started with a hip problem and later had other infections, especially in the liver. Among his greatest hits are I Got a Woman, Hallelujah, I Love Her So and Mary Ann.
With his musical background, he gained public and critical recognition, winning 12 Grammy awards, including best R&B record for three consecutive years with Hit the Road Jack, I Can't Stop Loving You and Busted. He was one of the great innovators of American music, mixing the gospel of the black church with the sensuality of the blues to create his famous musical genre: soul. He was in Brazil seven times and one of them (1995) attracted a record audience of 150 thousand people for a free show at Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo.
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
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