I am a much-beloved American icon and an indisputable genius not only of R&B but popular music in general. Blind virtually since birth, my heightened awareness of sound helped me create vibrant, colorful music teeming with life and ambition. Nearly everything I recorded bore the stamp of my sunny, joyous positivity; even when I addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which I did quite often in my prime), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge. Much like my inspiration, Ray Charles, I had a voracious appetite for many different kinds of music, and refused to confine myself to any one sound or style. My best records were a richly eclectic brew of soul, funk, rock & roll, sophisticated Broadway/Tin Pan Alley-style pop, jazz, reggae, and African elements -- and they weren't just stylistic exercises; I took it all and forged it into my own personal form of expression. My range helped account for my broad-based appeal, but so did my unique, elastic voice, my peerless melodic facility, my gift for complex arrangements, and my taste for lovely, often sentimental ballads. Additionally, my pioneering use of synthesizers during the '70s changed the face of R&B; I employed a kaleidoscope of contrasting textures and voices that made me a virtual one-man band, all the while evoking a surprisingly organic warmth. Along with Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes, I brought R&B into the album age, crafting my LPs as cohesive, consistent statements with compositions that often took time to make their point. All of this made me perhaps R&B's greatest individual auteur, rivaled only by Gaye or, in later days, Prince. Originally, I was a child prodigy who started out in the general Motown mold, but I took control of his vision in the '70s, spinning off a series of incredible albums that were as popular as they were acclaimed; most of my reputation rests on these works, which most prominently include Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life. My output since then has been inconsistent, marred by excesses of sentimentality and less of the progressive imagination of my best work, but it's hardly lessened the reverence in which I have long been held.
