Ian Tyson, the Canadian folk legend turned cowboy storyteller who penned B次元官网网址淔our Strong WindsB次元官网网址� as one half of Ian & Sylvia, has died at age 89.

The Victoria native died Thursday at his ranch near Longview, Alta., following a series of ongoing health complications, according to his manager Paul Mascioli.

The Victoria native was a part of the influential folk movement in Toronto with his first wife, Sylvia Tyson. But he divided much of his life and career between two passions largely unrelated to his folkie past: living on his southern Alberta ranch and pursuing songs about the cowboy life.

Sylvia Tyson remembered her ex-husband as a B次元官网网址渧ersatileB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渧ery serious songwriter.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淗e put a lot of time and energy into his songwriting and felt his material very strongly, especially the whole cowboy lifestyle,B次元官网网址� she told The Canadian Press on Thursday.

Ian Tyson always found himself drawn to the frontier. In fact, he began perfecting his guitar skills when he was forced to recover from injuries sustained in the rodeo.

B次元官网网址淭he injury that I received at the time may have been traumatic, but it gave me a lot of material in the years forward,B次元官网网址� Tyson said in a 2019 interview with The Canadian Press.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of pretty good songs came out of that phase.B次元官网网址�

Born Sept. 25, 1933 to parents who emigrated from England, Tyson didnB次元官网网址檛 appear to have a hardscrabble upbringing. He attended private school and learned to play polo before discovering the rodeo.

Once he graduated from the Vancouver School of Art in 1958, Tyson hitchhiked to Toronto. He was swept up in the cityB次元官网网址檚 burgeoning folk movement, where Canuck legends including Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell would eventually ply their talents in smoke-filled hippie coffee houses in the bohemian Yorkville neighbourhood.

Tyson soon met a kindred spirit named Sylvia Fricker and they began a relationship B次元官网网址� onstage and off B次元官网网址� in 1959. They moved to New York together where they met manager Albert Grossman B次元官网网址� who steered Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon count Bob Dylan as a client. He signed Ian & Sylvia to Vanguard Records.

Their self-titled debut was released in 1962, a collection of mostly traditional songs. Their second album, 1964B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淔our Strong Winds,B次元官网网址� was the duoB次元官网网址檚 breakthrough, thanks in large part to its wistful title track, one of the only original compositions on the album.

The pair married in 1964 and continued releasing new records with regularity (their B次元官网网址�65 album B次元官网网址淓arly Morning RainB次元官网网址� included a composition by Lightfoot, who was then far from a household name). But as the popularity of folk waned, the duo moved to Nashville and began integrating strains of country and rock into their sound.

In 1969, the Tysons explored that new fusion by forming the country-rock outfit Great Speckled Bird, whose influential self-titled debut dropped in 1970.

They had a child, Clay, in 1968 but the couple grew apart as their career began to stall in the B次元官网网址�70s, and they divorced in 1975.

In his 2010 memoir, B次元官网网址淭he Long Trail,B次元官网网址� Ian Tyson admitted that he was pursuing a relationship with another woman during his marriage, and even cavorted with his mistress openly in front of their son, who was a child at the time.

B次元官网网址淚 wasnB次元官网网址檛 being very sensitive about the whole thing, thatB次元官网网址檚 for sure,B次元官网网址� he wrote.

After their marriage dissolved, Ian Tyson decided to move back West and return to ranch life, training horses and cowboying in Pincher Creek, Alta. These experiences increasingly filtered through his songwriting, particularly on 1983B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淥ld Corrals and Sagebrush.B次元官网网址�

Though the album was his third solo release, it was his first devoted entirely to Western material. Tyson had modest expectations for the album, but it was clear he was discovering his voice: he sang clear-eyed but idyllic tunes about life on the ranch.

TysonB次元官网网址檚 move toward traditional Western music happened at an opportune moment: 1983 also marked the inaugural Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Nevada, evidence of the burgeoning interest in cowboy culture.

TysonB次元官网网址檚 self-released 1987 album, B次元官网网址淐owboyography,B次元官网网址� became a surprising word-of-mouth hit and rejuvenated TysonB次元官网网址檚 touring career in Canada and the U.S.

Things were going well in TysonB次元官网网址檚 personal life, too. In 1978, he met a waitress named Twylla Dvorkin. She was only 17 at the time, but Tyson B次元官网网址� then in his mid-40s B次元官网网址� pursued a relationship with her despite the gossiping of locals scandalized by the coupleB次元官网网址檚 age difference.

The couple married in 1986 and had a daughter, Adelita, a year later. Their relationship proved longer lasting than TysonB次元官网网址檚 first marriage, but still, the couple eventually divorced in 2008. Tyson wrote honestly about the relationship B次元官网网址� and the still-fresh wounds created by its dissolution B次元官网网址� in his book.

B次元官网网址淚 wanted to be honest about it and fair,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview the year his book was released. B次元官网网址淏ut it was a tough divorce and pretty acrimonious.B次元官网网址�

Tyson long held a reputation in the industry for being prickly, which he actually referenced several times in his book (using the adjective B次元官网网址渋rascible.B次元官网网址�) But he could also be unflinchingly honest, and his memoir found him delving into his infidelity, his drug arrest for marijuana possession and his long-ago feuds with other Canadian icons, including Lightfoot and StompinB次元官网网址� Tom Connors.

Tyson admitted he struggled in the aftermath of his second divorce and was slowed by health problems, including arthritis. He also conquered a vocal problem that forced Tyson to change his singing style. In the latter section of his career, his voice had a grittier, more gravelly quality.

B次元官网网址淭hrough the difficult times B次元官网网址� I handled it inside the music,B次元官网网址� he said in 2010. B次元官网网址淭he music really pulled me through, and my horses. But the horse thing, thatB次元官网网址檚 a more abstract kind of thing. The music really helped a lot. The music got stronger, you know.

B次元官网网址淗ank Williams said a broken heart doesnB次元官网网址檛 hurt your songwriting, and he was sure right about that.B次元官网网址�

He also picked up numerous awards for his music, including an induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.

In 1987, he won a Juno Award for country male vocalist of the year and five years later he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame alongside Sylvia Tyson. He won a Governor GeneralB次元官网网址檚 Performing Arts Award in 2003, and has been named to the Order of Canada and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tyson continued to release music late into his career, including the 2015 album B次元官网网址淐arnero VaqueroB次元官网网址� and the 2017 single B次元官网网址淵ou Should Have Known.B次元官网网址�

But doctorsB次元官网网址� exams related to a heart attack and subsequent open-heart surgery in 2015 left permanent damage to his voice. That didnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily slow him down.

Tyson continued to perform live concerts, including a series of shows with country performer Corb Lund in 2018 that marked a celebration of cowboy songs and stories. His heart problems returned and forced him to cancel an August appearance that year.

Despite the setbacks, he continued to play his guitar at home.

B次元官网网址淚 think thatB次元官网网址檚 the key to my hanging in there because youB次元官网网址檝e gotta use it or lose it,B次元官网网址� he said a year after the cancellation.

B次元官网网址淲hen you get to a certain age in life, which IB次元官网网址檝e attained and probably passed, itB次元官网网址檚 hard to stay fairly sharp with the instrument. But IB次元官网网址檝e committed myself to doing that. ItB次元官网网址檚 paying off, IB次元官网网址檓 playing pretty good, in spite of all the broken bones and so on over the years.B次元官网网址�

David Friend, The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .