Which guitarist lost the use of two fingers after a 1928 fire but continued playing jazz?

Django Reinhardt lost the use of two fingers after a 1928 fire but continued playing jazz.

Reinhardt was born in Belgium in 1910 and grew up in a travelling Romani community. At age 18, he was badly injured when a fire destroyed the caravan where he lived. His left hand was severely damaged, leaving the ring and little fingers largely unusable for fretting.

Instead of abandoning music, Reinhardt developed a distinctive technique using the remaining fingers and reshaped his approach to the guitar. He became a leading figure in the creation of gypsy jazz, especially through his work with violinist Stéphane Grappelli and the Quintette du Hot Club de France.

His recordings combined swing rhythm, virtuosic improvisation, and European musical influences. The injury story is often simplified into the claim that he lost two fingers completely; the important musical fact is that those fingers could not function normally for fretting, while he continued performing at the highest level.