Jeff Healey Dies of Cancer at 41
Posted on Mar 3 2008 - 9:18am by Angela | 0 comments
Canadian musician Jeff Healey died in a Toronto hospital on Sunday evening after a lifelong battle with cancer.
Healey lost both of his eyes to retinoblastoma before he reached eight months old but that never stopped him from becoming one of the greatest musicians in the industry. At age three, Jeff began playing the guitar and by the time he was a teenager he had already formed a band (called Blue Direction) which became extremely popular in Toronto.

Jeff HealeyWhile Jeff tried hard for many years for that big ticket to stardom, it was his appearance in the movie Road House with Patrick Swayze that made his career skyrocket to the top.

Richard Flohil, Healey's publicist, released the following message after hearing of his friend's untimely death:

"What we've lost is a virtuoso musician. He followed his own passion, which oddly enough was not playing blues rock music, but playing classic rock jazz.

"He just cancelled a concert a few days ago in Nepean (Ont.) and we made this very kind of bland, not-to-worry statement," he continued.

"At that point, we didn't want to say that Jeff was basically dying, although we all knew he was."

Jeff died just one month before the release of his latest album, Mess of Blues. The new album would have been his first rock album on eight years. There's no word on whether the album will still be released for sale.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of Jeff's family and friends.