Gordon Lightfoot, the legendary folk singer whose silvery refrains told a tale of Canadian identity that was exported to listeners worldwide, has died at 84.
Lightfoot died at a Toronto hospital on Monday evening, said Victoria Lord, the musicianB次元官网网址檚 longtime publicist and a representative for the family.
A cause of death was not immediately available.
Considered one of the most renowned voices to emerge from TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Yorkville folk club scene in the 1960s, Lightfoot went on to record no less than 20 studio albums and pen hundreds of songs, including B次元官网网址淓arly Morning Rain,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淐arefree HighwayB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪undown.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters,B次元官网网址� tweeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late Monday.
B次元官网网址淕ordon Lightfoot captured our countryB次元官网网址檚 spirit in his music B次元官网网址� and in doing so, he helped shape CanadaB次元官网网址檚 soundscape. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever.B次元官网网址�
Other celebrities and politicians added their praises of LightfootB次元官网网址檚 craft. Author Stephen King described him as B次元官网网址渁 wonderful performer,B次元官网网址� and former Ontario premier Bob Rae said he was B次元官网网址渟uch a decent manB次元官网网址� and a B次元官网网址渕usician with a magnificent tenor voice that will last forever.B次元官网网址�
Once called a B次元官网网址渞are talentB次元官网网址� by Bob Dylan, LightfootB次元官网网址檚 timeless compositions have transcended the boundaries of generations and musical genres.
Dozens of artists have covered his work, including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Anne Murray, JaneB次元官网网址檚 Addiction, Sarah McLachlan and, perhaps most surprisingly, dance supergroup Stars on 54 who turned his classic B次元官网网址淚f You Could Read My MindB次元官网网址� into a disco-pop curiosity for the 1998 movie B次元官网网址�54.B次元官网网址�
Most of his songs are deeply autobiographical with lyrics that probe his own experiences in a frank and unclouded manner and explore issues surrounding the national identity.
His 1975 song B次元官网网址淭he Wreck of the Edmund FitzgeraldB次元官网网址� chronicled the demise of a Great Lakes ore freighter, and 1966B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淐anadian Railroad TrilogyB次元官网网址� depicted the construction of the railway.
B次元官网网址淚 simply write the songs about where I am and where IB次元官网网址檓 from,B次元官网网址� he once said. B次元官网网址淚 take situations and write poems about them.B次元官网网址�
Often described as a poetic storyteller, Lightfoot remained keenly aware of his cultural influence. It was a role he took very seriously.
B次元官网网址淚 just like to stay there and be a part of the totem pole and look after the responsibilities IB次元官网网址檝e acquired over the years,B次元官网网址� he said in a 2001 interview.
But he was humble about his status: B次元官网网址淗ow does it feel to be an icon? It makes me feel no different as a human entity on the face of the planet.B次元官网网址�
While LightfootB次元官网网址檚 parents recognized his musical talents early on, he didnB次元官网网址檛 set out to become a renowned balladeer.
He began singing in his church choir and dreamed of becoming a jazz musician. At age 13, the soprano won a talent contest at the Kiwanis Music Festival, held at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Massey Hall.
B次元官网网址淚 remember the thrill of being in front of the crowd,B次元官网网址� Lightfoot said in a 2018 interview.
B次元官网网址淚t was a stepping stone for meB次元官网网址� My father was doing all my driving. I was doing events all around. I was playing at weddings, all the various clubs, the LadiesB次元官网网址� Auxiliary.B次元官网网址�
The appeal of those early days stuck and in high school, his barbershop quartet, The Collegiate Four, won a CBC talent competition. He strummed his first guitar in 1956 and began to dabble in songwriting in the months that followed. Perhaps distracted by his taste for music, he flunked algebra the first time. After taking the class again, he graduated in 1957.
By then, Lightfoot had already penned his first serious composition B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Hula Hoop Song,B次元官网网址� inspired by the popular kidsB次元官网网址� toy that was sweeping the culture. Attempts to sell the song went nowhere so at 18, he headed to the U.S. to study music for a year. The trip was funded in part by money saved from a job delivering linens to resorts around his hometown.
Life in Hollywood wasnB次元官网网址檛 a good fit, however, and it wasnB次元官网网址檛 long before a homesick Lightfoot returned to Canada. He pledged to move to Toronto to pursue his musical ambitions, taking any job available, including a position at Royal Bank before landing a role as a square dancer on CBCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淐ountry Hoedown.B次元官网网址�
One of his first gigs was at FranB次元官网网址檚 Restaurant, a downtown family-owned diner that warmed to his folk sensibilities. It was there he met fellow musician Ronnie Hawkins, who urged him to take his music to more suitable places, such as nearby SteeleB次元官网网址檚 Tavern.
At that point, Lightfoot was living with a few buddies in a condemned building in Yorkville, then a bohemian area where future stars including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell would learn their trade at smoke-filled clubs. Around that time, he befriended local folk duo Ian and Sylvia who became great admirers of his work and later recorded two of his songs as his star first began to rise.
Lightfoot made his popular radio debut with the single B次元官网网址�(Remember Me) IB次元官网网址檓 the OneB次元官网网址� in 1962, which led to a number of hit songs and partnerships with other local musicians. When he started playing the Mariposa Folk Festival in his hometown of Orillia, Ont., that same year, Lightfoot forged a relationship that made him the festivalB次元官网网址檚 most loyal returning performer.
By 1964, he was garnering positive word-of-mouth around town that attracted Bernie Fiedler, owner of YorkvilleB次元官网网址檚 Riverboat coffee house, who showed up at one of LightfootB次元官网网址檚 SteeleB次元官网网址檚 performances with an offer to pay him double.
Audiences were starting to gather in growing numbers and by the next year, LightfootB次元官网网址檚 song B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 Not SayinB次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� was a hit in Canada, which helped spread his name in the United States.
A couple of covers by other artists didnB次元官网网址檛 hurt either. Marty RobbinsB次元官网网址� 1965 recording of B次元官网网址淩ibbon of DarknessB次元官网网址� reached No. 1 on U.S. country charts, while Peter, Paul and Mary took LightfootB次元官网网址檚 composition, B次元官网网址淔or LovinB次元官网网址� Me,B次元官网网址� into the U.S. Top 30. The song, which Dylan once said he wished heB次元官网网址檇 recorded, has since been covered by hundreds of others.
That summer, Lightfoot performed at the Newport Folk Festival, the same year Dylan rattled audiences when he shed his folkie persona by playing an electric guitar.
As the folk music boom came to an end in the late 1960s, Lightfoot was already making his transition to pop music with ease.
In 1971, he made his first appearance on the Billboard chart with B次元官网网址淚f You Could Read My Mind,B次元官网网址� a reflection on a failing marriage likened to B次元官网网址渁n old-time movie about a ghost from a wishing well.B次元官网网址� It reached No. 5 and has since spawned scores of covers.
LightfootB次元官网网址檚 popularity peaked in the mid-1970s when both his single and album, B次元官网网址淪undown,B次元官网网址� topped the Billboard charts, his first and only time doing so.
When DylanB次元官网网址檚 Rolling Thunder Revue came to TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Maple Leaf Gardens in 1975, Lightfoot was invited on stage. Afterwards, he hosted a party for the crew at his home where he was filming singing his folk contemporaryB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淏allad In Plain D,B次元官网网址� which later appeared in DylanB次元官网网址檚 pseudo-documentary B次元官网网址淩enaldo and Clara.B次元官网网址�
But with LightfootB次元官网网址檚 intense fame came public intrusions into his private life. His 1973 divorce from Swedish wife Brita Ingegerd Olaisson made headlines and was branded as the costliest divorce settlement in Canadian legal history at the time.
B次元官网网址淲hen my first marriage broke up, it took me years to get over it,B次元官网网址� he recalled in 2012 with The Canadian Press.
B次元官网网址淚 had a good wife and two great kids, but the business just ate me up. The women ate me up. I wasnB次元官网网址檛 able to resist. I can now, but not then. And then it was alcohol, and thereB次元官网网址檚 no greater catalyst to getting into further (trouble) than drinking.B次元官网网址�
Indeed, Lightfoot endured a very public battle with alcoholism and other personal hurdles, particularly with the women who inspired his lyrics.
His 1975 album B次元官网网址淐old on the ShoulderB次元官网网址� purportedly reflects on his broken relationship with Cathy Smith, a troubled former girlfriend who lingered in his mind long after they broke up.
Seven years after its release, Smith was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving comedian John Belushi a fatal dose of drugs. The story was splashed across the tabloids and drew Lightfoot into the scandal.
He resented being painted as a drug user, saying he dated Smith more than a decade earlier, long before her hard drug use. But he also felt an obligation to help her get back on her feet. He gave her money after her jail sentence ended in 1988 and made the publishing connections for her memoir.
Lightfoot went on to marry Elizabeth Moon in 1989. While his second marriage produced two children, the couple ultimately divorced in 2011.
Three years later he wed Kim Hasse, an Iowa-raised woman who heB次元官网网址檇 met at several shows. Despite their 23-year age difference, the pair became inseparable with Hasse frequently by LightfootB次元官网网址檚 side at public events.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 actually quite surprising, I never thought IB次元官网网址檇 have a girlfriend again for as long as IB次元官网网址檝e lived,B次元官网网址� he said at the time.
During his career, Lightfoot collected 12 Juno Awards, including one in 1970 when it was called the Gold Leaf. He was also named four times as top folk singer at the RPM Awards B次元官网网址� the 1960s predecessor to the Junos. He was nominated for four Grammy Awards, received an Order of Canada citation in 1970 at the age of 32, and was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2003.
In 1986, he was inducted into the Canadian Recording Industry Hall of Fame, now the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He received the Governor GeneralB次元官网网址檚 Award in 1997 and was ushered into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.
On top of his musical accomplishments, Lightfoot branched out into acting with the 1982 Canadian film B次元官网网址淗arry Tracy, Desperado,B次元官网网址� starring Bruce Dern and Helen Shaver. Later in the decade, he appeared on an episode of prime-time soap B次元官网网址淗otel,B次元官网网址� where he tapped into his own experience to play a musician struggling with alcoholism.
Much of his late career was marred by persistent health problems that slowed B次元官网网址� but rarely stopped B次元官网网址� him from performing live.
In 2002, he suffered an aortic aneurysm and later fell into a coma, endured more surgery and a rehabilitation period that he says stretched for two and a half years. He later said the health scare took B次元官网网址渟ome of the starchB次元官网网址� out of his voice.
A minor stroke that hit in 2006 made it difficult for him to use his right hand while playing guitar for a short while.
Still, he continued touring. A strict workout regimen of six days a week helped him stay in shape.
In early 2010, Lightfoot learned of his own death when the CanWest newspaper chain splashed the false headline across some of their websites. The media company picked up on social media buzz that was eventually traced back to a prank call made to the management office of late singer and friend Ronnie Hawkins.
Lightfoot took the hoax in stride, saying he learned of his demise as he was driving back from a dentist appointment.
B次元官网网址淚 was quite surprised to hear it myself,B次元官网网址� he told CP24 with a chuckle.
Six years later, Lightfoot crossed the finish line on an astounding 80 tour dates in one year. He said his three alternating setlists were so meticulously focused that they all ran two hours and five minutes.
B次元官网网址淎t this age, my challenge is doing the best show I can,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview with CP.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 very much improved from where I was and the seriousness with which I take it.B次元官网网址�
However, a lifetime of touring came at a hefty personal price that left him with guilt he still carried in his later years.
B次元官网网址淚 was not always the dad I shouldB次元官网网址檝e been,B次元官网网址� he acknowledged, reflecting on his absence from raising his six kids.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e worked hard on improving that for many years now.B次元官网网址�
At 79, he quit smoking. B次元官网网址淐igarettes, that is,B次元官网网址� he specified in a 2019 conversation. And despite a fall at home that forced him to postpone dates in mid-2021, he was back on stage four months later to reopen the renovated Massey Hall in a three-night engagement.
Those shows kicked off another tour that ran well into the following year.
In early April, representatives for the singer announced he was cancelling all of his upcoming concerts due to unspecified health setbacks.
LightfootB次元官网网址檚 hometown enshrined his musical legacy in bronze when they unveiled a four-metre-high sculpture dedicated to him. It was one of several local honours he would receive later in his life.
B次元官网网址淲hen I found out they were working on it, I thought, B次元官网网址榃hy me? What have I done that is so great that I should deserve to have a statue, a very artistic work done?B次元官网网址滲次元官网网址� he said at the time.
B次元官网网址淭o have a monument of this kind and the location here (at) the Mariposa Folk Festival B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 very appropriate.B次元官网网址�
David Friend, The Canadian Press
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