Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has tragically passed away at the age of 84, according to his longtime publicist Victoria Lord, reports CBC News. An iconic name in the folk music universe in the 1960s and 1970s, Gordon was commonly regarded as “Canada’s greatest songwriter,” according to the Winnipeg Free Press. With a career spanning over 50 years, he was known for hits such as “Early Morning Rain” and “If You Could Read My Mind.” His sound mainly centered around his baritone voice accompanied by a 12-string guitar, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Gordon revealed that he got into songwriting at the age of 17. “Once the folk revival broke in, and Bob Dylan arrived on the scene, I picked up a lot of momentum in my songwriting. It improved a lot, to the point where I was able to attain my first recording contract with United Artists, for whom I made five albums,” he said in a personal interview with American Songwriter, who also described him as “soft spoken and reflective.”
When it comes to his personal life, Gordon had been married three times, and is survived by five children. He also faced many health problems in his later years, including an abdominal aneurysm in 2002, and a stroke in 2006, according to The National Post. Nevertheless, he continued to perform. “At this age, my challenge is doing the best show I can,” he said in a 2016 interview with Canadian Press.
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