] Charles died at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and
] friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
]
] Charles last public appearance was alongside Clint
] Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles
] designated the singers studios an historic landmark.
]
] Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his
] life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and
] defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and
] saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and
] blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm
] voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble
] childhood in the segregated South.

Georgia is no longer on his mind.