BREAKING: Legendary folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84
Lightfoot died at a Toronto hospital on Monday evening, said Victoria Lord, the musician's longtime publicist and a representative for the family.Considered 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.
Once called a "rare talent" by Bob Dylan, Lightfoot's timeless compositions have transcended the boundaries of generations and musical genres. "I simply write the songs about where I am and where I'm from," he once said. "I take situations and write poems about them." While Lightfoot's parents recognized his musical talents early on, he didn't set out to become a renowned balladeer.
Life in Hollywood wasn't a good fit, however, and it wasn't long before a homesick Lightfoot returned to Canada. He pledged to move to Toronto to pursue his musical ambitions, taking any job available, including a position at Royal Bank before landing a role as a square dancer on CBC's "Country Hoedown."
By 1964, he was garnering positive word-of-mouth around town that attracted Bernie Fiedler, owner of Yorkville's Riverboat coffee house, who showed up at one of Lightfoot's Steele's performances with an offer to pay him double. As the folk music boom came to an end in the late 1960s, Lightfoot was already making his transition to pop music with ease.
But with Lightfoot's intense fame came public intrusions into his private life. His 1973 divorce from Swedish wife Brita Ingegerd Olaisson made headlines and was branded as the costliest divorce settlement in Canadian legal history at the time. His 1975 album "Cold on the Shoulder" purportedly reflects on his broken relationship with Cathy Smith, a troubled former girlfriend who lingered in his mind long after they broke up.
Three years later he wed Kim Hasse, an Iowa-raised woman who he'd met at several shows. Despite their 23-year age difference, the pair became inseparable with Hasse frequently by Lightfoot's side at public events. On top of his musical accomplishments, Lightfoot branched out into acting with the 1982 Canadian film "Harry Tracy, Desperado," starring Bruce Dern and Helen Shaver. Later in the decade, he appeared on an episode of prime-time soap "Hotel," where he tapped into his own experience to play a musician struggling with alcoholism.
Lightfoot took the hoax in stride, saying he learned of his demise as he was driving back from a dentist appointment.Six years later, Lightfoot crossed the finish line on an astounding 80 tour dates in one year. He said his three alternating setlists were so meticulously focused that they all ran two hours and five minutes.“I’m very much improved from where I was and the seriousness with which I take it.
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