A.J. Croce

A.J. is Jim Croce's only child. He was born in 1971, two years before Jim died in a plane crash at age 30. Like his dad, A.J. is a singer, songwriter and musician.

He started performing when he was just 15. In 1989, at age 18, he was an opening act for BB King, which led to gigs touring with Taj Mahal and Ray Charles. He released his self-titled debut solo album in 1993.

A.J. Croce can see only out of his left eye, and that vision is limited. He went completely blind at age 4 after his mother sent him to a boarding school to keep him away from her abusive boyfriend. He developed an ear infection that went untreated and caused him to lose his sight. "The events that led to my blindness were even more traumatic than the blindness itself," he told Blind Abilities. Sight in his left eye started coming back a few years later, and he began playing piano at 10, inspired by Ray Charles.