Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Folk Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 84

By editorial board on May 2, 2023

The folk legend was long admired by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Tom Cochrane

Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died, according to his longtime publicist Victoria Lord via CBC. He was 84.

A giant of Canadian music, the prolific songwriter contributed heavily to the folk scene in the 1960s and ’70s. One of his biggest hits was the 1976 single “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” In 2003, he received the Companion of the Order of Canada—the highest honor the country bestows upon civilians. He had a wide range of admirers within the music scene, including Neil Young and Tom Cochrane, and has had his songs covered by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.

Born in Orillia, Ontario, in 1938, Lightfoot began performing in his grade school years. He learned piano as a preteen and taught himself to play guitar in high school. He moved to California to study jazz composition for college, but grew homesick and returned home to Toronto shortly thereafter. In 1960, he joined Swinging Eight, a vocal group that often appeared on the TV series “Country Hoedown.” He also formed the short-lived duo the Two Tones with Terry Whalen. Lightfoot’s songwriting shifted after he heard Bob Dylan in the early ’60s. Inspired by his poetic lyrics, Lightfoot started to compose more personal songs, eventually catching the ear of manager Albert Grossman, who went on to sign him, Pitchfork reports.

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