Jeff Healey
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, piano
Norman Jeffrey “Jeff” Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter 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 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.
Healey had numerous acting scenes in the movie with Swayze, as his band was the house cover band for the bar featured in the movie. 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.
By the release of the 2000 album Get Me Some, Healey began to concentrate his talent in a different musical direction closer to his heart, the appreciation for another original American music form, jazz. By the release of the 2000 album Get Me Some, Healey began to concentrate his talent in a different musical direction closer to his heart, the appreciation for another original American music form, jazz.
In 2014 Healey was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. In September 2016, Jeff Healey was inducted into the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame.
On January 11, 2007, Healey underwent surgery to remove metastatic tissue from both lungs. In the previous eighteen months, he had two sarcomas removed from his legs.
On March 2, 2008, Healey died of sarcoma cancer in his home town of Toronto at age 41.
Discography
Jeff Healey Band
1988 See the Light Arista AL-8553 25 33 58 22 RIAA – Platinum[25]
1990 Hell to Pay Arista ARCD-8632 5 20 18 27 RIAA – Gold
1992 Feel This Arista B000002VML 27 37 72 174 –
1995 Cover to Cover Arista B00008G71N 44 80 50 – –
2000 Get Me Some Eagle B00004T98N – – – – –
Jeff Healey Solo & with The Jazz Wizards
2002 Among Friends Stony Plain B000I2KPO6 –
2004 Adventures in Jazzland Stony Plain B000I2KPOG –
2006 It’s Tight Like That Stony Plain B000ETRIZ2 –
2008 Mess Of Blues Stony Plain B0016MX3F0 –
2009 Songs From The Road Stony Plain B002F040F4 –
2010 Last Call Stony Plain B0036WL32S –
Jeff Healey solo
2002: Among Friends
2003: Live at Healey’s (Bolder)
2004: Adventures in Jazzland (Healeyophonic)
2006: It’s Tight Like That (Stony Plain)
2008: Mess of Blues
2009: Songs From The Road (Stony Plain)
2010: Last Call (Stony Plain Records)
2016: Heal My Soul (Convexe Entertainment)
Live albums
1993: Live in Belgium (CD & DVD) (Eagle Vision)
2003: Live at Healey’s (Bolder)
2005: The Jeff Healey Band Live at Montreux 1999 (Eagle)
2011: Live at Grossman’s 1994 (Eagle Rock North/Convexe)
2013: As The Years Go Passing By: Live in Germany 1989-1995-2000 (in-akustik)
2013: Live From NYC (Eagle Rock)
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