Philkon Phil Konstantin · Public domain

A. J. Croce was blinded for six years as a child after being physically abused by his mother's boyfriend, and taught himself piano by ear during that time, drawing on Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder records. He was performing professionally in San Diego nightclubs by sixteen and went on to a decades-long recording and touring career blending blues, soul and rock and roll piano. He is the son of Jim Croce, who died in a plane crash before A. J. turned two.