Jeff Healey
| Jeff Healey | |
|---|---|
Jeff Healey, live in 1999
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Norman Jeffrey Healey |
| Born |
March 25, 1966 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 2, 2008 (aged 41) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Blues rock, blues, jazz, rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, actor |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, trumpet |
| Years active | 1983–2008 |
| Labels | Arista, BMG, Sony, Eagle, Sensation, Healey-O-Phonic, Stony Plain, Convexe Entertainment, Provogue, CBC, Arbor |
| Associated acts | The Jeff Healey Band, The Jazz Wizards (aka Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards), Jeff Healey's Blues Band (aka The Healey's House Band), Blue Direction |
| Website | jeffhealey |
| Notable instruments | |
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. He hit Number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Angel Eyes" and reached the Top 10 in Canada with the songs "I Think I Love You Too Much" and "How Long Can a Man Be Strong".
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Healey was raised in the city's west end. He was adopted as an infant; his adoptive father was a firefighter. When he was almost one year old, Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given ocular prostheses.
Healey began playing guitar when he was three, developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap. When he was 15, Jeff Healey formed the band Blue Direction, a four-piece which primarily played bar-band cover tunes and featured bassist Jeremy Littler, drummer Graydon Chapman, and a schoolmate, Rob Quail on second guitar. This band played various local clubs in Toronto, including the Colonial Tavern.
Healey began hosting a jazz and blues show on radio station CIUT-FM where he became known for playing from his massive collection of vintage 78 rpm gramophone 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. This band made their first public appearance at the Birds Nest, located upstairs at Chicago's Diner on Queen Street West in Toronto. They received a write-up in Toronto's NOW magazine, and soon were playing almost nightly in local clubs, such as Grossman's Tavern and the famed blues club Albert's Hall (where Jeff Healey was discovered by guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins).
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