Death of a Legend, way before his time

I was more than a little shocked this morning to find that Jeff Healy had died of cancer at 41. I vividly remember watching him perform years ago, and marveling at his ability to play guitar like no one I had ever seen. Being blind, he would sit with the guitar on his lap and play it almost like a piano.

That was odd enough, but during one of the songs, he got up and did a solo, holding the guitar in the most bizarre pose, halfway between sitting and standing. Despite that, his solo was spectacular, and I was amazed and impressed with his ability to overcome his handicap to the point of playing as well or better than anyone else alive.

It is sad for us all that he is gone at such a young age. Canada has lost one of her few musical geniuses.