1. Ludwig van Beethoven

At age 26, the great German composer and pianist began to lose his hearing. His problems began with a severe form of tinnitus, and it’s thought they may have been complicated by syphilis, lead poisoning, typhus, or possibly his habit of immersing his head in cold water to stay awake. Whatever the cause, Beethoven’s deafness curbed his performing and conducting career, but didn’t slow his prolific output as a composer. In the last twenty-five years of his life, when his hearing was gone, he wrote some of his best-known works, including the Ninth Symphony.

2. Django Reinhardt

Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp outside Paris, where he learned to play guitar and violin fluidly. In 1928, the 18-year-old musician was badly burned in a caravan fire, leaving his right leg paralyzed and left hand partially mutilated. Reinhardt learned to walk again with the help of a cane, and retaught himself how to play guitar, employing the index and middle fingers on his left hand. Inspired by Louis Armstrong, he concentrated on jazz and became one of the genre’s all-time greats.

Django Reinhardt – “J’attendrai Swing”

3. Ray Charles

There was a lot of trauma in Ray Charles’ childhood. At five, he witnessed the drowning death of his younger brother. Soon after, he began to gradually lose his sight. By age seven, Ray was blind (it’s presumed that glaucoma was the cause). With his mother’s encouragement, he took up music and learned to play piano, organ, sax, clarinet, and trumpet. By age 15, he was touring the country with dance bands. With a career that took in R&B, jazz, soul, pop, and country, he became one of the 20th century’s truly legendary performers.

Ray Charles – “You Don’t Know Me”

4. Hank Williams

The country star was born with spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spine that meant a lifetime of chronic back pain. But it didn’t prevent Williams from writing and recording countless all-time classics like “Hey Good Lookin’” and “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry,” as well as keeping a rigorous tour schedule. In 1951, after a fall during a hunting trip, Hank’s pain grew unbearable. An unsuccessful surgery led to a morphine addiction and alcohol abuse, and eventually an untimely death at age 29.

5. Stevie Wonder

When Steveland Morris was born premature, he was rushed into an incubator. An excess of oxygen caused him to lose his sight. But like his hero Ray Charles, Morris turned to music, learning how to play several instruments, including drums, piano, and harmonica. Discovered by a member of Smokey Robinson’s group, The Miracles, the 11-year-old was brought to Motown Records. In short order, he became Stevie Wonder and had the first of many #1 hits. The rest is history.

6. Bill Withers

Bill Withers was a chronic stutterer until the age of 28. “I was never too inclined to jump up in front of people and try to communicate verbally,” he has said. But as an R&B singer-songwriter, Withers found a way to overcome his problem, turning out hits like “Use Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

Bill Withers – “Ain’t No Sunshine”

7. Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Roland Kirk lost his eyesight at an early age, but it never affected his colorful visual sense. He was known to wear long caftans, towering hats, wraparound shades, and an arsenal of woodwind instruments around his neck, some of which he’d play simultaneously, in harmony. A true jazz original, Kirk passed away in 1977.