Blind since childhood, Jeff Healey was a Canadian singer and musician who became known as one of the most gifted blues and jazz guitarists acclaimed around the world by audiences and critics alike. His album 'Mess of Blues' in 2008, the year of his death from cancer at the age of 41, topped Billboard's Blues Albums Chart. Celebrated as a virtuoso, he performed with many of the great blues and rock stars of his time including B.B. King, The Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top and Eric Clapton.
Born in Toronto, he learned to play the guitar and trumpet at a young age. By the time he was 15 he had formed a band named Blue Direction playing in local venues. He had a stint playing tracks from his vast collection of records on a local radio station and then joined with bass player Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen to form The Jeff Healey Band. Their debut album 'See the Light' featured the single 'Angel Eyes' which went to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 while the title track reached number 33 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The band were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the single 'Hideaway' from the album.
After they performed as the house band in the 1989 Patrick Swayze action picture 'Road House', the single 'Roadhouse Blues' peaked at number 29 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. Nominated as Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year in Canada's 1989 Juno Music Awards, Healey and the band released 'Hell to Pay' in 1990. Singles from the album included 'I Think I Love You Too Much', which reached number five on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart, 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' which went to number seven, 'Full Circle' which achieved number 16 and 'How Long Can a Man Be Strong' which peaked at number 34. In 1990, the band won the Juno Entertainer of the Year Award. They released three more albums - 'Feel This' (1992), 'Cover to Cover' (1995) and 'Get Me Some' (2000) - and then Healey began to focus more on jazz rock with The Jazz Wizards.
Healey made several solo and live albums and toured with his different aggregations. He was due to tour Europe with The Jeff Healey Blues Band when he became ill with cancer. He died in Toronto in 2008. A collection of his unreleased recordings titled 'Heal My Soul' came out in 2016 and peaked at number five on the Blues Albums Chart.