Gordon Lightfoot was the Canadian folk-rock legend whose international hit songs included “Sundown,” “Rainy Day People,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
- Died: May 1, 2023 (Who else died on May 1?)
- Details of death: Died at a hospital in Toronto of natural causes at the age of 84.
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Gordon Lightfoot’s legacy
Lightfoot was considered by many to be Canada’s greatest songwriter, writing and singing many top hits across the English-speaking world in the 1970s. But his success began at home in Canada – after a childhood spent studying and performing music, his first hits began charting in the early 1960s. Lightfoot lived for a brief period living in Los Angeles before returning to Canada and settling in Toronto, where he became a fixture of the city’s folk music scene. Lightfoot released his first singles in 1962, achieving local success with “(Remember Me) I’m the One” and “Negotiations”/“It’s Too Late, He Wins.”
Lightfoot made his international breakthrough with a bang as his single “If You Could Read My Mind” jumped to No. 1 at home and No. 2 in the U.S. Recorded in 1970, the poignant song was about his disintegrating marriage and included a lyric that Lightfoot later changed: “If you read between the lines, you’ll know that I’m just trying to understand the feelings that you lack” became “If you read between the lines, you’ll know that I’m just trying to understand the feelings that we lack.” The change was prompted by his daughter, who questioned the idea that the lack of feelings was one-sided.
After his first taste of widespread success, Lightfoot continued to release popular songs, including “Talking in My Sleep,” “Beautiful,” and “You Are What I Am.” He hit No. 1 again, in Canada and the U.S., with 1974’s “Sundown,” which has been repeatedly covered and featured in movies and TV shows, such as “Knives Out,” “The Blacklist,” and “Supernatural.” “Carefree Highway” and “Rainy Day People” followed.
Lightfoot’s next No. 1 hit was an unusual one. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” was ripped from the headlines, written just weeks after the ship bearing that name sank in Lake Superior in November 1975. Lightfoot was inspired after seeing a news report about the shipwreck, and he crafted the song as a straightforward retelling of the sequence of the disaster. He added imagined details, including the crew’s dialogue – though here, too, he changed a lyric in the interest of historical accuracy: “At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in; he said…” became “At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then he said…” in later performances.
Lightfoot continued to have success on adult contemporary radio through the 1970s and early ‘80s. He recorded and toured for most of his life, releasing his last album in 2020, accompanied by a tour. He had planned to tour again in 2023, though those dates were cancelled due to health issues. It wasn’t the first time Lightfoot’s health had stopped his tour schedule; in 2002, he suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, undergoing emergency surgery for the often-fatal condition and spending six weeks in a coma. Four years later, he had a minor stroke while on stage; he was back to performing live just nine days later.
Lightfoot was the subject of a 2010 death hoax when a journalist posted on social media that he had died. Lightfoot learned the news as he listened to the radio while driving home from the dentist, and he dispelled the rumor by calling the radio station that had broadcast the error and speaking live on the air.
One of Canada’s national treasures, Lightfoot was a member of the Canadian Music and Canadian Country Music halls of fame. Some have referred to his “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” as Canada’s “real national anthem.” He received the country’s highest civilian honor in 2003, dubbed a Companion of the Order of Canada, and he was featured on a postage stamp in 2007. He was also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Lightfoot won 16 Juno Awards, presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and he was nominated for five Grammy Awards.
Notable quote
“I like to see people encouraged like I was. It was my mother who planted the seed for me by the time I was eight, when she told me that some of the great singers we listened to all the time actually made money singing. I was that young when I started to think about a career in music.” —from a 2013 interview for Broadview
Tributes to Gordon Lightfoot
Full obituary: Toronto Sun
