Music legend Ray Charles dies aged 73

RAY CHARLES, the Grammy-winning blues singer who blended gospel and blues in classics such as What'd I Say, Hit the Road, Jack, and heartfelt ballads like Georgia on My Mind, died yesterday. He was 73.

He died surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.

Charles's last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30 when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark. Blind by the age seven and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition.