Blind since the age of six (from glaucoma), Ray Charles studied composition and learned many instruments at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. His parents had died by his early teens, and he worked as a musician in Florida for a while before using his savings to move to Seattle in 1947. He got his first Top Ten R&B hit with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951.The Ray Charles Live Oak grows in St. Augustine , Florida , at the school where the renowned musician received his education. Charles is best known as the father of soul music, and his career is regarded as a significant landmark in the world of modern music. Ray Charles died June 10, 2004.