Jeff Healey of Toronto died Sunday of cancer. He was 41. Healey was considered a prodigy and earned numerous Juno and Grammy nominations in the course of his career.
He lost both his eyes to cancer before he was eight-months-old, but never let that slow him down. What makes Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers is also what keeps some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty -- the fact that the blind guitarist plays his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey was head and shoulders above his competition.
By the time he was a teenager, Healey had formed a four-piece band called the Blue Direction and was playing in clubs throughout the Toronto area. His best known work came when he formed the Jeff Healey Band several years later with bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. His career took off when he appeared in the movie Road House, which starred Patrick Swayze.
In 1988, his Grammy-nominated album See the Light included the major hit single, Angel Eyes. In 1990, he earned the Juno for entertainer of the year. Healey became an internationally-known star who played with musical greats that included B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Always remembered, in tribute here is my favourite Jeff Healey song, aptly, "While my guitar gently weeps"
Later,
Kenaz
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