He was blinded by glaucoma in infancy. He attended the Louisiana State School for the Blind in Baton Rouge (now the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired), where he studied piano, drums, and trombone. He learned to read classical music in Braille notation. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, majoring in voice and minoring in piano. He earned a master's degree in music at Michigan State University.
