Music great Ray Charles passed away earlier today at the age of 73 from complications relating to liver disease. He was expected to begin touring this month, after cancelling performances in February — the first time in his 53-year-long touring career.

Blind since the age of seven, Charles learned to read music in braille, and went on to breathe life into music that not only spanned genres — from country and gospel to R&B, funk, pop, and soul — but innovatively fused musical stylings.http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000529611