6 Blind and Brilliant Singers Who Achieved Fame

For most people, to become a masterful musician, earn fame, and acclaim—is really difficult. Yet, there are myriad artists out there in the world who have achieved success at the highest level while unable to do things most of us take for granted.

We wanted to highlight six such astonishing artists who achieved the height of their chosen fields without the use of their eyes.

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1. Ray Charles

Anyone who has seen the hit biopic, Ray, knows Charles‘ story. He wasn’t born blind, but he became so as a child. He had to learn how to navigate the world anew, without the use of his sight. He was blind by 7, though he started to lose his sight several years prior (likely due to glaucoma). Later, he attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind from 1937 to 1945. Today, he’s famous for songs like “Georgia On My Mind” and “Hit the Road Jack.”

2. Stevie Wonder

While he wasn’t officially born blind, Stevie Wonder became so shortly after he was born, likely due to his premature birth and the conditions in the hospital. Nevertheless, Little Stevie Wonder, as he was known, signed to the iconic Motown record label at just 11. Today, he’s famous for songs like “Superstition” and albums like the 1976 offering, Songs in the Key of Life.

3. Diane Schuur

Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Diane Schuur became blind shortly after birth due to retinopathy of prematurity, in which oxygen sent to the lungs disrupts eye development. Nevertheless, Schuur became a force in music, even talking to Elmo on Sesame Street about her gifts. In addition to her many accolades, in 2000, Schuur was given the Helen Keller Achievement Award by the American Foundation for the Blind.

4. José Feliciano

Christmas royalty, José Feliciano, is a supremely successful singer whose hit “Feliz Navidad” is played annually around the holiday season. He was also born blind as a result of congenital glaucoma. He found music by playing with his family at a young age. As a teenager, he took classical guitar lessons from Harold Morris, a music teacher at The Light House School for the Blind in the Big Apple. Now, he’s an eternal icon.

5. Terri Gibbs

Country music songwriter and performer Terri Gibbs was declared blind at just six months old, diagnosed with retrolental fibroplasia. She became a power player in her industry, thanks to her debut single “Somebody’s Knockin’” and other popular songs like “Anybody Else’s Heart but Mine,” “Rich Man,” Ashes to Ashes,” and “Mis’ry River.” Gibbs learned to play piano at three years old and her work ethic clearly paid off in droves. She has performed at the Grand Ole Opry and earned multiple Grammy nominations.

6. Ronnie Milsap

Country music artist Ronnie Milsap earned a great deal of success in the 1970s and ’80s. At age five, he was sent to the North Carolina State School for the Blind and Deaf in North Carolina, where he cultivated his love for music. The rest is history. Milsap has garnered six Grammy Awards and a whopping 35 number-one country hits. As of 2014, Milsap was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage