History Main / BlindMusician

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena Paul Pena]], eclectic rock singer-songwriter whose song "Jet Airliner" was CoveredUp into a huge Music/SteveMillerBand hit (which gave Peña some financial security for the rest of his life). Later he mastered [[WorldMusic Tuvan throat singing]] and became the subject of the documentary ''Film/GenghisBlues''.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena Paul Peña]], eclectic rock singer-songwriter whose song "Jet Airliner" was CoveredUp into a huge Music/SteveMillerBand hit (which gave Peña some financial security for the rest of his life). Later he mastered [[WorldMusic Tuvan throat singing]] and became the subject of the documentary ''Film/GenghisBlues''.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena Paul Peña]], eclectic rock singer-songwriter whose song "Jet Airliner" was CoveredUp into a huge Music/SteveMillerBand hit (which gave Peña some financial security for the rest of his life). Later he mastered [[WorldMusic Tuvan throat singing]] and became the subject of the documentary ''Genghis Blues''.

* Subverted by Emily Gregory (later de Cortez), in several works by ''Creator/MadeleineL'Engle''; she wants to be considered on her own merits, not as a blind pianist.

* Jason "Jace" Newfield of the [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Channel Original Movie]] ''Going to the Mat.'' Lampshaded when he expresses frustration at his lack of success on the wrestling team, saying he wanted "to be a part of one thing where [his] disability was totally irrelevant," and adds that the fact that he's a musician as well makes him a "walking cliche."

* ''The Blind Musician'' by Vladimir Korolenko, a Russian novel describing the life of a blind pianist starting from birth.

* ''Film/KungFuHustle'' has The Harpists, who are mostly if not totally blind and play the guzheng (Chinese string instrument often heard in operas). They also double as [[MusicalAssassin Musical Assassins]], as they use the guzheng to attack and kill their targeta via RazorWind from the strings.

* José Feliciano

* ''The Blind Musician'' by Vladimir Korolenko, a Russian novel describing the life of a blind pianist starting ftom birth.

* The two part "The Problem at Gallows Gate" episode of ''Series/JonathanCreek'' had a musician ''pretending'' to be blind in order to enhance his reputation... not to mention [[DirtyOldMan using it as an excuse to feel up women]] because that's how he "sees" what they look like. He used to be blind however, it's just that he decided only to tell a very small group of people that he'd had corrective eye surgery. Even his own girlfriend didn't seem to be aware of it.

* Gao Jianli, a musician during the rein of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), which means this trope is recorded to be OlderThanFeudalism, no big surprise. Gao Jianli had his eyes put out by the emperor, who feared an assassination attempt but liked his music. Sure enough, Gao Jianli tried to assassinate the emperor by attacking him with his lute. Yeah. Unfortunately, he failed. But he still might also count as a HandicappedBadass despite that.

* There was an obscure blues singer who went by the name Blind Ben Covington, but acquired the nickname Bogus Ben Covington when word got out that he [[ObfuscatingDisability wasn't actually blind]]. He is therefore a subversion of the trope.

* Louis Vierne, French composer and organist.

* Totally subverted in "Les Deux Aveugles" (The Two Blind Men) and "The Blind Beggars", two independent librettos to the same operetta score by Offenbach; in both versions, both beggars are pretending to be blind and are terrible musicians.

* Antonio DeCabezon, Baroque-period Spanish composer and organist.

* Music/GeorgeFredericHandel lost his vision later in life, but [[DeafComposer kept on composing and performing]]. The aria "Total Eclipse" from his oratorio ''Samson'', in which the title character describes his SenseLossSadness after being blinded, was said to move the composer and audience to tears. He and Music/JohannSebastianBach went blind after botched eye operations by UsefulNotes/ChevalierJohnTaylor, a notorious quack surgeon.

* Music/JohannSebastianBach went blind towards the end of his life but still continued to compose. Both he and Music/GeorgeFredericHandel did so after botched eye operations by UsefulNotes/ChevalierJohnTaylor, a notorious quack surgeon.
* Music/LouisVierne, French composer and organist.
* Music/AndreMarchal, French composer and organist.
* Music/JeanLanglais, French composer and organist.
* Music/GastonLitaize, French composer and organist.
* Music/FrancescoLandini, Medieval-era Italian French composer and organist. The "Landini cadence," a common ending chord progression of the period, was named for him.
* Music/AntonioDeCabezon, Baroque-period Spanish composer and organist.
* Music/JoaquinRodrigo, 20th century Spanish composer.
* Music/FrederickDelius, 20th century English composer, who went blind and suffered other catastrophic maladies from tertiary stage syphilis later in life. He continued to compose via painstaking dictation to transcriber Music/EricFenby.

* Creator/ArtTatum

Compare and contrast DeafComposer, when an artist's disability directly conflicts with their skill.

* [[BlindSeer Sala Shane]] from ''Anime/Charlotte'' is a blind vocalist of the band ZHIEND.

* In ''Manga/GetBackers'', Shido's companion [[spoiler: and eventual girlfriend]] Madoka Otowa is a very cute-looking and ''very'' famous violinist who's also blind.

* In ''Film/GetCrazy'', we meet a B.B. King expy at a fellow blues man's funeral. All the other blues men in attendance are blind, throwing flowers, well, blindly. One of them walks into an open grave.

* In ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'', Jamal sees people who blind boys who can sing because blind singers earn more money than ones that can see.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena Paul Peña]], eclectic rock singer-singwriter whose song "Jet Airliner" was CoveredUp into a huge Music/SteveMillerBand hit (which gave Peña some financial security for the rest of his life). Later he mastered [[WorldMusic Tuvan throat singing]] and became the subject of the documentary ''Genghis Blues''.