Jeff Healey was born in Toronto on March 25, 1966. Blind from early childhood due to retinoblastoma (a rare form of eye cancer), Jeff Healey’s guitar-playing virtuosity and soulful voice saw him rise to prominence in the entertainment world in the late 1980s and ‘90s, selling millions of albums worldwide.
Getting his first guitar at the age of three, he developed a unique style of playing. Placing the guitar flat on his lap, with his hands over the fretboard, gave him the flexibility of fretting with all five fingers and the power of pulling notes with the strength of his whole hand.
For over two decades, Jeff enjoyed a successful music career that spanned rock, blues and traditional jazz. Grammy nominee and Juno Award-winner, he was a radio personality, a jazz historian and a world-famous record collector (owning a collection of 1920s and ‘30 jazz 78s that would ultimately top out at over 30,000 records). With the Jeff Healey Band, he recorded five studio albums and contributed to the soundtrack of the cult classic film, Patrick Swayze’s Road House (a film in which Jeff and the band were featured prominently).
Over the years, Jeff’s reputation as a player and a person led him to perform and record with music legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, George Harrison, Mark Knopfler many more. In addition to countless recording sessions as a guitarist, trumpet player, singer and producer, Jeff also recorded three albums of the traditional American jazz that he loved so much. Just before his untimely passing, Jeff put the finishing touches on the award-winning Mess Of Blues, his first rock/blues album in nine years.
Jeff was a proud Canadian through and through. While he set a high standard and example as an unbelievable musician, he was also an inspiration to disabled people around the world. Awarded an honorary doctorate from McMaster University and inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, Jeff represented determination, equal opportunity and a passion to stay true to your dreams, no matter what the obstacle.
