Jeff Healey

A blind Canadian jazz guitar singer, Jeff Healey, who can see through the eyes of music.

Jeff Healey is one of the Canada’s most successful exports and one of the world’s most celebrated guitarists, the Jeff Healey Band sold millions of records. Healey lost his sight at the age of one, after developing eye cancer. He began playing guitar when he was three years old and began performing with his band Blues Direction at the age of 17. Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band in 1985, featuring bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. This trio released one single on its own Forte record label, which led to a contract with Arista Records. The Jeff Healey Band released their debut album, See the Light, in 1988 and the guitarist immediately developed a devoted following in blues-rock circles. Featuring the hit single “Angel Eyes,” the record went platinum in the U.S. While the Jeff Healey Band’s subsequent records were popular, none were as successful as the debut.

What made Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers was also what kept some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty — the fact that the blind guitarist played his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey could make unique bends and hammer-ons, making his licks different and more elastic than most of the competition. Unfortunately, his material leaned toward standard AOR blues-rock, which rarely let him cut loose, but when he did; his instrumental prowess could be shocking.

In 2008, a month before the release of his last studio-recorded blues album, Mess of Blues, Healey died from cancer.

No doubt, his unusual story embarked in the history of music. He taught us to see what he had seen- the beauty of music.