Studies, reports and think tanks have highlighted a worrying trend in the world of popular music. In the last 60 years there has been a 200% decrease in the amount of blind African American singer/songwriters.
What is even more worrying is that not one blind or visually impaired African American singer/songwriter has appeared on any reality talent show, ever.
Ray Charles, who died in 2004, began the trend of blind African American singer/songwriters in the 1950's, when he was a pioneer in the genre of soul music, fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records.
The popularity of blind African American singer/songwriters continued when in 1972 Stevie Wonder, a blind African American singer/songwriter signed for Motown.
However, since 1950, not one blind African American singer/songwriter has been born; which some observers fear could mean the end of popular African American singer/songwriters.
One worried blogger wrote "God forbid when Stevie Wonder retires then there will be no blind African American singer/songwriters left. I hope that someone, somewhere, somehow - comes up with a solution or it is quite simply the end. I have a few suggestions, maybe take a normal seeing African American singer/songwriter and have him volunteer to go blind or find a blind African American and teach him to become a singer/songwriter. Either way, something has to be done, or popular music will be devoid of blind African American singer/songwriters.....then what?"