Ray (2004) - Drama Movies 152 minutes. Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story, Ray. Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together. blindness and impaired vision, country music, jazz, loss of loved one, black people, overdose, bus ride, georgia, melancholy, record producer, biography, rags to riches, childhood trauma, gospel, indianapolis, record label, recording studio, pianist, usa history, cautionary