Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian folk-rock star, died at the age of 84. According to Authorities Lightfoot died of natural causes on Monday night at a Toronto hospital. The singer-songwriter had long struggled with major health issues, which required extended hospitalization in 2002.
Lightfoot was born in a small hamlet in Ontario. He first rose to prominence in Toronto’s coffeehouse scene. He made an impression on folk music stars Ian and Sylvia, who helped introduce him to the rest of the globe by recording some of his songs. Lightfoot rose to international prominence in 1971 with the song “If You Could Read My Mind.”
According to former Toronto Globe and Mail music reviewer Robert Everett Green, the song contains some of Lightfoot’s favorite themes: loss, longing, and nostalgia.
“It’s a song about inarticulateness,” Everett Green explained. “However, it does make an incredible case.” Here’s someone who can’t speak what he wants to convey, but he connects by singing about it.”
Lightfoot’s voice was gruff and regretful, a wonderful match for his harsh outback appearance. The hearty exterior, though, concealed a turbulent personal life.
Lightfoot, who was one year sober at the time, discussed his alcoholism in a 1983 NPR interview. “The people who were very close to me were beginning to question my credibility and decision-making process,” he admitted, adding, “Now, the irony is that they still question my credibility and decision-making process.”
Many of Lightfoot’s songs about Canadian wildlife, streets, and weather also served as a cultural elegy, such as his 1976 smash “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a dramatic portrayal of a true-life maritime calamity.
“As he sings it, you get the strong sense that not only is one ship sinking, but an entire way of life is disappearing,” Everett Green adds. “It was dusty, genuine, and isolated, and now it’s gone.”
Lightfoot never had the range or originality of peers like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, but his sorrowful melodies were reassuring to certain admirers. Everett Green believes Lightfoot’s best songs, such as “Early Morning Rain,” reflected a dying world.
“You can’t jump a jet plane like a freight train,” Everett Green says, paraphrasing the song’s chorus. “The freights crossing the prairie, with that great lonely moaning-whistle sound, have been obliterated by jet travel, shrinking spaces, and the invasion of the hinterland, which formerly was one of Canada’s strengths.”
When Did Gordon Lightfoot Pass Away?
Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1, 2023, in Toronto, Canada, after canceling the rest of his 2023 tour due to ill health.
What Happened to Gordon Lightfoot?
Gordon Lightfoot, unlike many other musicians, lived a reasonably healthy life. Although he canceled the balance of his 2023 trip owing to health difficulties, these were caused by old age rather than disease.
Gordon is said to have worked out six times a week even into his 80s. Gordon said in 2012, at the age of 73, that he was ready to die at any time. He had no idea he’d live another decade before passing away.
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however, Gordon have surgery in 2002 for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. He even went into a coma for 6 weeks, and it was unsure if he would survive.
Despite this setback, Gordon resumed touring in 2003 and even obtained new record deals. He later suffered a stroke in 2006, but he fully recovered. As a result, it’s safe to assume that this ailment was not the cause of his death.