RONNIE MILLSAP
Ronnie Milsap (born January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970’s and 1980’s, appealing to both country and pop music markets with hit songs that incorporated pop, R&B, and rock and roll elements. His biggest crossover hits include “It Was Almost Like a Song”, “Smoky Mountain Rain”, “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me”, “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It for the World”, “Any Day Now”, and “Stranger in My House”. He is credited with forty No. 1 country hits, third to George Strait and Conway Twitty. He was selected for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. (More from Wikipedia)
Adversity in life seems to be one of the sparks that have ignited many a talented musician over the years. The idea that being blind aids hearing and, thus, musical talent is nearly a cliché. Two of the greatest R&B artists of all time are blind: Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles; other notable blind musicians include José Feliciano, Clarence Carter, Terri Gibbs, Ronnie Millsap, and Doc Watson. There are many others who are less well known, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson (apparently the source of the name of the 1990’s band Blind Melon), Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, and (from the world of gospel music) the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi (also called the Five Blind Boys of Alabama, the Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama and the Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi). Frontman John Kay of Steppenwolf didn’t just wear sunglasses to look cool; he has a degenerative eye disease. There is no telling how many better known blind artists I am inadvertently omitting, there are so many.
(June 2011)
