Born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany Georgia, he later moved to Greenville, Florida. In 1936 he contracted glaucoma, which eventually left him blind for life. It was while he was attending St. Augustine's School for the Deaf and Blind that Ray excelled at a variety of musical instruments, including the piano. Ray released a number of records in the early years, but his first big break came in 1952 when he signed on with Atlantic Records.

Ray was known to be a chess fan and often played against fellow band members, friends, and even at times interviewers. Ray's chess board was designed so that each square was the same color, but the 'dark' squares were slightly elevated and the 'light' squares were slightly lowered. Each square also had a hole in which to fit the pieces, in the style of traveling sets. The dark pieces' tops had sharper edges in comparison to the whites.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his chess set was displayed there until September 5th, 2005.