Cancer took Jeff Healey's vision at age 1, and 40 years later, it has taken his life.

The blind rock and jazz musician died Sunday evening after a lifelong battle against cancer, according to his longtime bandmate Colin Bray, who was in a Toronto hospital room with Healey's family when the guitarist died. Healey was 41.

The Grammy-nominated Healey rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that gained international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album See the Light. The album, nominated for best rock album in 1988, was propelled by the hit single "Angel Eyes."

Healey had focused primarily on jazz music in recent years, releasing three jazz albums and hosting radio shows in Canada where he spun jazz rarities from his personal collection of over 30,000 vinyl records.

Healey's death came less than two months before the April 22 release of Mess of Blues, his first rock album in eight years.

Healey had battled cancer since age 1, when a rare form of retinal cancer known as retino blastoma claimed his eyesight. Due to his blindness, Healey taught himself to play guitar by laying the instrument across his lap.

His unique playing style, combined with his blues-oriented vocals, earned him a reputation as a teenage musical prodigy. He shared stages with George Harrison, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Bray told the Associated Press that most of Healey's friends and family expected the guitarist to rally from this latest illness.

"I don't think any of us thought this was going to happen," Bray said. "We just thought he was going to bounce back as he always does."

Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumors from his lungs and leg. He is survived by his wife, Christie, and two children.