Gordon Lightfoot, widely regarded as Canada’s greatest songwriter and one of the folk-rock genre’s founding fathers, has perished at the age of 84, according to a family representative.
Monday evening, Lightfoot passed away in a Toronto hospital, according to the musician’s longstanding publicist, Victoria Lord. A cause of mortality could not be determined immediately.
Recently, the musician cancelled all of his tour dates for 2023, citing “health-related issues.” His representatives did not provide additional information at the time.
Lightfoot, an iconic figure in the 1960s and 1970s, penned numerous compositions that transcended borders and musical preferences, such as The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald, Ribbon of Darkness, and If You Could Read My Mind, among many others.
Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Bob Dylan, and Barbra Streisand, to mention a few, recorded Gordon Lightfoot’s songs with great success, and he was highly regarded in the music industry.
Robbie Robertson of The Band referred to Lightfoot as a “national treasure,” while Dylan desired Lightfoot’s songs could “last forever.”
“We have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters,” tweeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon learning of Lightfoot’s death. He expressed his condolences to the musician’s family, friends, and admirers worldwide.
“Gordon Lightfoot captured the spirit of our nation in his music, thereby helping to define Canada’s sonic landscape. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy endure for all time.
Even as a child, Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr., who was born in Orillia, Ontario on November 17, 1938, was a musical prodigy. His mother recognised his talent as early as fourth grade, when he sang an Irish melody over the school’s PA system.
Lightfoot was able to hone his aptitude once he entered high school, and he taught himself how to play folk guitar. Lightfoot chose not to attend university in Canada and moved to California in 1958, where he studied jazz composition and orchestration at the Westlake College of Music in Hollywood.
After writing and producing commercial jingles to make ends meet, Lightfoot, a true Canadian, decided he missed his homeland too much and migrated back to Canada in 1960. He continued to work in the United States and Europe, travelling there when necessary, but Canada was always his home.
As soon as Lightfoot settled in Toronto, he gained widespread recognition. In 1962, he released his first regional success, (Remember Me) I’m the One, which he performed with The Swinging Eight on CBC’s Country Hoedown. After a brief spell hosting BBC’s Country and Western Show in the United Kingdom, he returned to Canada and performed at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1964.
Lightfoot signed with United Artists in 1965 and issued the single I’m Not Saying, which contributed to his growing reputation in the industry. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and attended the Newport Folk Festival, enhancing his reputation in the music industry. Shortly thereafter, he released his debut album, Lightfoot!, which included the hit singles Early Morning Rain and For Lovin’ Me.
Unknowingly, Lightfoot had set a precedent: he became renown as a Canadian artist without relocating to the United States, a rare feat. In 1967, CBC commissioned him to compose The Canadian Railway Trilogy to commemorate Canada’s centenary; this was another significant event that cemented his place in Canadian musical history.
He was also not afraid of controversy. In reference to the 1967 Detroit ethnic riots, he recorded a song titled “Black Day in July,” and many U.S. states removed it from their radio playlists. In response, Lightfoot stated that radio station managers were more concerned with playing songs “that make people happy” as opposed to songs “that make people think.” After United Artists failed to support his viewpoint, he switched to Warner Bros.
If You Could Read My Mind was a platinum-certified success for Lightfoot at Warner Bros. in 1970. The song’s triumph catapulted Lightfoot to the heights of fame, and over the next decade he released a string of albums that increased his notoriety even further.
Lightfoot continued to generate hit songs throughout the ’80s and ’90s, despite reducing his concert appearances as he aged and was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in the ’70s. Even in the 1990s, he put on an average of fifty performances per year.
Throughout his life, Lightfoot was a frequent drinker and smoker, but he quit drinking cold turkey in 1982 after a doctor warned him he would develop cirrhosis if he didn’t.
Lightfoot stated in an interview with Larry Wayne Clark, “It was actually going to kill me.” “I was close to developing cirrhosis. Therefore, after hearing about a physician, I visited him, and on the very first visit, he demanded that I vow not to drink again.
In 2002, Lightfoot experienced severe abdominal agony; after being rushed to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. After that, he was in a coma for six weeks and required a tracheotomy and four other operations. Despite everything, following his recovery he continued to compose and perform music.
In 2006, he sustained a minor stroke during a performance, which hindered his ability to use his right hand. Lightfoot ultimately regained full use of the appendage and returned to the stage in less than a year, demonstrating that he was resilient in the face of adversity.
In 2010, when a CTV journalist posted on social media that the musician had passed away, Lightfoot fell victim to an internet death hoax. While driving home, he heard the news of his own demise on the radio. In an interview, he laughed it off and stated that he was “doing fine.”
“Everything is good,” he told CP24 at the time. “I don’t know where it originated, but it appears to be a fabrication. I myself was quite startled to hear it… I feel great.”
In a career that spanned more than half a century, Lightfoot has established a legacy that will be difficult to surpass. In 2015, his hometown of Orillia erected a four-meter-tall bronze sculpture of a cross-legged Gordon Lightfoot strumming a guitar in his honour, and many Canadians make a pilgrimage to the site to pay their respects to one of the finest singer-songwriters in the country.
The album Solo, which was published by Lightfoot in March 2020 and featured no other musicians, would be his last. It was his 21st studio album, released over 54 years after his initial release.
Meredith and Ingrid, and Eric, Fred, and Miles are Lightfoot’s daughters and sons, respectively.
Not only in Canada, but around the globe, notable figures took to social media to honour Lightfoot and his legacy.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, dubbed him “Canada’s Bard.”
