Jeff Healey August 2002

Norman Jeffrey “Jeff” Healey born on March 25, 1966  was a Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Jeff Healey  at the age of  one year, lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given artificial replacements.
Amazingly,  he began playing guitar when he was three…developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap.
In his late teens Healey began hosting a jazz and blues show on a local radio station where he became known for playing from his massive collection of vintage 78 rpm gramophone records. Healey was an avid record collector and amassed a collection of well over 30,000 78 rpm records. Shortly thereafter he was introduced to two musicians, bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen, with whom he formed a trio, “The Jeff Healey Band”. The band started gigging around the Toronto area  and played at the famed blues club Albert’s Hall where Healey was discovered by guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins.
In 1988, the band released the album See the Light, featuring the hit single “Angel Eyes” and the song “Hideaway”, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. The album sold over one million copies in the US.
In 1990, the band won the Juno Award for Canadian Entertainer of the Year. The albums Hell to Pay and Feel This gave Healey 10 charting singles in Canada between 1990 and 1994, including a cover of The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps which featured George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on backing vocals and acoustic guitar.
On March 2, 2008, Healey died of cancer at  his home town of Toronto. He was only 41 years old.
In early 2009, Healey’s album Mess of Blues won in The 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Blues Album
In 2009, Healey was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. He is survived by his wife, Cristie, and two children. one of which was also born with the same disability
Jeff Healey was a guitar virtuoso and arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time.

Source: Wikipedia; www.jeffhealey.com