Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died at 84

Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died at 84

Canadian folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1 in Toronto at the age of 84. The cause of his death was not disclosed. Lightfoot had become very popular in the seventies with songs like “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “If You Could Read My Mind”, which was about his divorce and reached the top of the Canadian and US music charts. He has recorded twenty albums and written hundreds of songs which over the years have been interpreted by numerous artists including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash and Sarah McLachlan.

Gordon Lightfoot was born on November 17, 1938 in Orillia, Ontario. As a boy he sang in a church choir, performed on local radio shows, and had singing competitions. He played piano, drums and guitar and while still in high school he wrote his first song. After studying composition and conducting at Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles, he returned to Canada. He was part of some groups starting to perform in the same Toronto clubs where Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen sang.

In 1966 he recorded his first solo album, Lightfoot!, which contains some of his most famous songs, including “For Lovin’ Me” and “Early Morning Rain”, but the real commercial success came when he switched to the Warner label Bros Records, in the seventies.

Following news of his death, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that the country had lost one of its greatest musicians: “Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the spirit of our country in his music, and in doing so contributed to the soundscape of Canada. May his music continue to inspire future generations and may his legacy live on forever.”

Source:BiographyTips