"I simply write the songs about where I am and where I'm from," he once said. His 1975 song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" chronicled the demise of a Great Lakes ore freighter, and 1966's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" depicted the construction of the railway. Most of his songs are deeply autobiographical with lyrics that probe his own experiences in a frank and unclouded manner and explore issues surrounding the national identity. Once called a "rare talent" by Bob Dylan, Lightfoot's timeless compositions have transcended the boundaries of generations and musical genres.ĭozens of artists have covered his work, including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Anne Murray, Jane's Addiction, Sarah McLachlan and, perhaps most surprisingly, dance supergroup Stars on 54 who turned his classic "If You Could Read My Mind" into a disco-pop curiosity for the 1998 movie "54." Author Stephen King described him as "a wonderful performer," while the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson added a simple "rest in peace."įormer Ontario premier Bob Rae said he was "such a decent man" and a "musician with a magnificent tenor voice that will last forever" while Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said his "poetry and melodies are an eternal inspiration." Other celebrities and politicians added their praises of Lightfoot's craft on Twitter. May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever." "Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape. "We have lost one of our greatest singer-songwriters," tweeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late Monday. He had suffered numerous health issues in recent decades.Ĭonsidered one of the most renowned voices to emerge from Toronto's Yorkville folk club scene in the 1960s, Lightfoot went on to record no less than 20 studio albums and pen hundreds of songs, including "Early Morning Rain," "Carefree Highway" and "Sundown." The singer-songwriter died of natural causes at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Monday evening, said Victoria Lord, the musician's longtime publicist and a representative for the family. Gordon Lightfoot, the legendary folk musician whose silvery refrains told a tale of Canadian identity that was exported to listeners worldwide, has died at 84. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 2.
In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day.
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