Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian people and nation icon, has died. The information was confirmed by Lightfoot’s publicist, Victoria Lord, and first reported by CBC. Known as considered one of Canada’s biggest songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot climbed the US charts with hits corresponding to 1970’s “If You Could Read My Mind,” 1974’s “Sundown” and “Carefree Highway,” 1975’s “Rainy Day People,” and 1976’s “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald.” He was 84.
Born in Orillia, Ontario in 1938, Lightfoot began singing as a toddler in church. As a youngster, he realized piano and taught himself play percussion. His first stay look was at 12 when he carried out at Massey Hall in Toronto after successful an area contest. When his voice modified (Lightfoot was a soprano), he taught himself guitar and commenced performing with a barbershop quartet, in addition to a people group referred to as the Teen Timers.
In 1958, Lightfoot moved to California to review jazz composition and orchestration at Westlake College Of Music. To help himself, he wrote industrial jingles and sang on demo recordings. After residing in Los Angeles, Lightfoot moved again to Canada in 1960. He carried out with the Singin’ Swingin’ Eight, a bunch featured on CBC TV’s Country Hoedown, and shaped a duo with Terry Whalen referred to as the Two Tones. He was additionally a fixture at Toronto espresso homes.
In the ’60s, Lightfoot moved to the UK, the place he hosted a BBC-TV collection The Country & Western Show. He was additionally taking part in some solo dates and had scored a regional hit in Canada with the only “Remember Me (I’m the One).” In 1963, Lightfoot found Bob Dylan and began to evolve his personal musical method. Canadian people duo Ian & Sylvia Tyson heard a few of Lightfoot’s new materials and added his songs to their repertoire. The duo additionally launched Lightfoot to their supervisor, Albert Grossman.
Around this time, main artists corresponding to Peter, Paul & Mary and Marty Robbins started recording Lightfoot’s materials. In 1966, Lightfoot signed a recording contract with United Artists Records, and his first solo album — Lightfoot! — did fairly properly. Lightfoot recorded three extra albums between 1967 and 1969, turning into a star in Canada, the place he started headlining yearly at Massey Hall.
In 1970, Lightfoot signed a brand new report cope with Reprise and launched the album Sit Down Young Stranger, which hosted his first US hit, “If You Could Read My Mind.” In 1971, he launched one other album, Summer Side Of Life, which was adopted by two extra albums in 1972: Don Quixote and Old Dan’s Records.
In the mid-’70s, Lightfoot was identified with Bell’s Palsy and was compelled to chop again on his touring. He returned in 1974 with the album Sundown, which featured the #1 hit title observe and “Carefree Highway.” Later, albums like 1976’s Summertime Dream included the hit observe “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald,” and 1975’s Cold On The Shoulder included “Rainy Day People.”
Though his hits slowed down within the Eighties, Lightfoot devoted extra of his time to charitable causes, acting at advantages elevating cash for world starvation and the atmosphere. He additionally appeared in movies — 1982’s Harry Tracy and Desperado. He additionally performed a rustic singer on the short-lived collection Hotel in 1988. In 1986, Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame.
In the ’90s, Lightfoot had a artistic revival, releasing the critically acclaimed albums Waiting For You (1993) and A Painter Passing Through (1998). However, in 2002 Lightfoot skilled a significant well being setback, struggling an belly aortic aneurysm. He was in a coma for six weeks, however survived.
In 2003, Lightfoot obtained Canada’s highest civilian honor; he was named a Companion Of The Order Of Canada. The subsequent yr, he launched Harmony, an album he’d been engaged on earlier than his sickness. In 2006, Lightfoot skilled one other setback — he suffered a stroke, which restricted his mobility in his proper hand. He recovered inside months and received again to performing.
In February 2010, an unfounded rumor swept the Internet that Lightfoot had died. The singer truly heard a information report of his demise and referred to as a Winnipeg radio station to substantiate that he was nonetheless very a lot alive. Two years later, Lightfoot launched a set of recordings from his Massey Hall appearances referred to as All Live.
Lightfoot toured commonly all through the 2010s and launched a double-disc assortment referred to as The Complete Singles 1970-1980 in 2019. The subsequent yr, Lightfoot launched Solo, an acoustic assortment of demos and unreleased songs written between 2001 and 2002.
Lightfoot was the topic the 2019 documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, and in 2022, he obtained the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. Weeks earlier than his demise, Lightfoot canceled upcoming tour dates, citing his declining well being.