Ronnie Milsap

In the 1970s and early '80s blind pianist and singer Ronnie Milsap scored a string of massive crossover hits built upon a formula Charlie Rich innovated just a few years earlier: luxuriant pop music, equal parts Nashville (country) and Memphis (soul). After the success of neo-traditionalists like Randy Travis and Keith Whitley, country music fans eventually rejected the kind of countrypolitan Milsap came to be associated with. But that was kind of unfair as the guy is a truly gifted crooner.