R.I.P. Jeff Healey
3/3/2008 By Cam Lindsay

Celebrated blues-rock and jazz virtuoso Jeff Healey died yesterday (March 2) after a life-long battle with cancer. In January of 2007, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs, then using aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, it failed to halt the spread of the disease.

Robbed of his sight as a baby due to a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, Healey started to play guitar when he was three years old, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap. He formed his first band at 17, but soon formed a trio named the Jeff Healey Band that went on to earn both a cameo in the Patrick Swayze film, Road House and a Grammy nomination for their debut album, See the Light.

In 1990, Healey won his first Juno as Entertainer of the Year and went on to record four more blues albums. He eventually turned to his true love of jazz, both playing trumpet and guitar in the band Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards and DJing on CBC Radio using his extensive 30,000-plus collection of 78-rpm records.

At the time of his death, Jeff was on the verge of releasing his first rock/blues album in eight years. Mess of Blues is scheduled for release in Canada on April 22, through Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that released his three jazz CDs.

Healey is survived by his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three). He was 41.

Variety reports developer Harmonix sued Activision on Monday for $14.5 million in royalties owed them from the Guitar Hero franchise, only to pull the suit Tuesday night. The filing of the lawsuit seems to have been all Activision apparently needed to talk things through outside of court.

The lawsuit revolved around Harmonix's technology being used in creating Guitar Hero III and royalties owed them for that deal. Harmonix, which created the first two GH's before publisher Red Octane was purchased by Activision, also claims it has not been paid for GH DLC, in-game advertising and other nitty-gritty details. Activision originally stated it had paid what it owed to Harmonix and "the claims otherwise do not have merit."

With Activision looking to drive the Guitar Hero franchise into ~~the ground~~ the seventh level of hell, it looks like Harmonix wants to get some money out of watching its original cash cow get milked into oblivion.

Yesterday was a busy legal day for the Guitar Hero franchise, what with Harmonix pulling a $14.5 million dollar royalty suit on the same day Activision decided to address a patent claim from its guitar partners at Gibson. Sure, we're not fancy lawyers with fancy pants, but it strikes us as particularly odd that Gibson managed to work up a deal with Activision – licensing its branding as well as the likenesses of some of its most iconic guitars – well before realizing that, hey! It's already patented this whole thing and owns the rights to a device

Turns out that while Gibson told its pals at Activision about the patent back in January, the Big A just filed a lawsuit yesterday asking the U.S. District Court for Central California "to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages." Considering we're talking about a billion dollar franchise, we're sure Gibson's been seeing dollar signs. Perhaps it's afraid games like Guitar Hero are siphoning potential guitar sales away from, y'know, actual instruments ... or maybe it just figured why the heck not. Unless they make nice nice, we figure there's a chance we could see Fender-branded guitars in both guitar rhythm series going forward. whereby a "musician can simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display that includes stereo speakers."

Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79

Published - Jun 02 2008 03:03PM CDT | AP

By RON WORD - Associated Press Writer

Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.
Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.