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Guitarist and Bandleader Jeff Healey Dies in Toronto Hospital
Guitarist and Bandleader Jeff Healey Dies in Toronto Hospital
Following a lengthy struggle with cancer, Healey passes away on the eve of the release of a new blues rock album (His First Blues Album in 8 Years)
Jeff Healey, arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time, died today (Sunday March 2) in St. Joseph's Hospital, Toronto. He was 41, and leaves his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three), as well as his father and step-mother, Bud and Rose Healey, and sisters Laura and Linda.
Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending.
After his appearance in the movie Road House, he was signed to Arista records, and in 1988 released the Grammy-nominated album See the Light, which included a major hit single, Angel Eyes. Various "best-of" and live packages were released, and he recorded two more rock albums, before turning to his real love, classic American jazz from the '20s, '30s and '40s.
By then, however, Healey was an internationally-known star who had played with dozens of musicians, including B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and recorded with George Harrison. Mark Knopfler and the late blues legend, Jimmy Rogers.
A family man with a three-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter he preferred to stay close to home. As his rock career wound down as the millennium came, he recorded a series of three album of early jazz, playing trumpet as well as acoustic guitar in a band he called Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards. The most recent was It's Tight Like That, recorded live at Hugh's Room in Toronto in 2005, with
British jazz legend Chris Barber as guest star.
The album was the result of a joint agreement between the German label, Ruf Records, and Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that has released his three jazz CDs.
Mess of Blues was recorded in studios in Toronto, with two cuts recorded at the Jeff Healey's Roadhouse in Toronto and two at a concert in London England. The backup group on the upcoming CD ? the Healey's House Band ? played with him regularly at the downtown Roadhouse, and at a previous club bearing his name in the Queen-Bathurst area.
Early last year, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs; aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, failed to halt the spread of the disease.
Despite his battle with cancer, he undertook frequent tours across Canada with both his blues-based band and his jazz group; he was set for a major tour in Germany and the U.K. and was to be a guest on the BBC's famed Jools Holland Show in April.
Remembered by his musicians and his audiences for his wry sense of humour as well as his musical playfulness, Healey was a unique musician who bridged different genres with ease and assurance.
For further information, please contact:
Canada:Richard Flohil416 351-1323 / 416 997-4788 rflohil@sympatico.ca
Holger PetersenStony Plain Records780 468-6423 holger@stonyplainrecords.com
Europe Thomas Ruf.Ruf Records011 49 (0)36087 / 92200 ruf@rufrecords.de
United States Mark Pucci, MP Media770-804-9555 mpmedia@bellsouth.net
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