Well, that sucks. Jeff Healey died.

Some of you may not be familiar with Jeff Healey, but all of you that grew up in the 80's should remember him. He was the blind guitar player/singer featured in the movie "Roadhouse" with Patrick Swayze. He also had a hit with the song "Angel Eyes".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYz_LHKrgDY

I guess I never knew *why* he was blind. He lost both of his eyes to retinoblastoma before he was eight-months-old. He found out later in life that he carried a gene that made him predisposed to other forms of cancer. He had been treated in the last couple of years for lung cancer.

Even though we hadn't heard much in the US about Jeff since the 80's, he had become a jazz musician in his native Canada. He even had his own radio show.

Heh. I'll always remember one of his scenes in "Roadhouse". Patrick Swayze had just come to the Double Deuce and a huge bar fight broke out. Dalton kicked some serious ass, of course. When things died down, Jeff says, "The name.... is Dalton." I don't know why it cracks me up, but it does. Probably because I'm obsessed with that movie.

I don't know why it saddens me so much when someone I don't even know dies. I guess I felt even worse when I heard about Jeff because I felt like his life was probably difficult enough, due to the blindness. Adding cancer on top of that just sucks. Well, cancer always sucks, of course, but he was 41 years old, dammit.
Rest in peace, Jeff.