Highly respected among his peers, Canadian music icon Jeff Healey is known as one of the most dedicated and original guitar players there ever was.
“Jeff was one of the most unique players of all-time,” said Steve Lukather. “He redefined what the guitar can do and how you can play it. Pure soul and fire.”
Early on in life, Healey developed a rare form of ocular cancer that necessitated the removal of both eyes. But what he lacked in vision he more than made up for in other ways. By the age of three he had already picked up the guitar, and while playing it on his lap began to nurture a style that later made him stand out from the crowd.
A complete music fanatic and multi-instrumentalist, Healey started his own band, Blue Direction, in his early teens before going on to form the Jeff Healey Band aged 19.
After signing to Arista, the group released their debut album, See the Light, which spawned the top five Billboard smash “Angel Eyes.”
Achieving multi-platinum sales, the young maestro went on to collaborate with the likes of B.B. King, John Mayall and George Harrison.
“It’s important to turn the next generation on to people like Jeff,” said Sonny Landreth. He’s right up there with the all-time greats.”
In the early ‘00s, Healey began focusing on his lifelong passion for jazz music (he had amassed an epic record collection numbering close to 30,000 discs!) and released several albums throughout the decade.
Sadly, in 2008, he passed away aged just 41 following a long battle with sarcoma cancer.
“He was always growing as a musician,” recalled Walter Trout. “He was always trying to get better and expand. I think it’s really a tragedy how he died so young. A sad thing.”
The film will look at Jeff's remarkable story through new interviews, archival footage and Jeff’s own unique voice
Cristie Healey
In honor of the legendary guitarist, the Estate of Jeff Healey has announced “the first official feature length documentary film” titled See the Light: the Jeff Healey Story is currently in pre-production.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with Toronto based TGTV to produce this documentary,” said Cristie Healey, wife of the late Jeff Healey and Co-Administrator of his Estate. “The film will look at Jeff's remarkable story through new interviews, archival footage and Jeff’s own unique voice.”
"This project has been years in the making and we are in the pre-production phase of what will be an internationally distributed film,” added Roger Costa, Co-Administrator of the Estate of Jeff Healey. “TGTV and their team at Eggplant bring decades of experience to the table, while still affording us complete creative control over the project.”
You can watch the official See the Light: the Jeff Healey Story trailer here…
Visit the Jeff Healey website for more information.
