Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, CC, O.Ont (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian folk singer, composer and lyricist.

Life

Lightfoot was born November 17, 1938 to Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. and Jessica Lightfoot in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Los Angeles, California during the 1950s where he studied at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music. He returned to Canada by the 1960s and performed in coffee houses on the Toronto folk scene. In 1966, his debut album Lightfoot! was released. In the mid-1960s he was more known as a songwriter than for his own work, as his

Related Topics:
Orillia - Ontario - Canada - Los Angeles, California - 1950s - Hollywood - 1960s - Toronto - 1966 - Lightfoot!

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songs were recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

Related Topics:
Johnny Cash - Elvis Presley

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In 1971, on a bus bound for Calgary, Gordon met a lonely teenage girl named Grace on her way home from Toronto, and in 1972, the song "Alberta Bound" found its debut on the Don Quixote album.

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He is one of the first Canadian popular singers who achieved real stardom in his own country instead of moving to the United States. In June of 1974, his classic single, "Sundown", went to No.1 on the American charts. Nearly two years later, Lightfoot had an unexpected hit with a song with the unlikeliest of subject matter. In late November, 1975, Lightfoot read about the sinking of a Great Lakes ore carrier called the SS Edmund Fitzgerald during a severe storm in a magazine article. Tragically, all of her 29 crew members were killed. His song, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", most of whose lyrics were taken from the article, reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Both songs continue to receive heavy airplay on many classic rock stations.

Related Topics:
United States - 1974 - Sundown - No.1 - Wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald''

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In the fall of 2002, Lightfoot suffered a near-fatal abdominal hemorrhage, which caused him to go into a comatose state for a short period of time. He later returned to the music business with the album Harmony and an appearance on Canadian Idol.

Related Topics:
2002 - Abdominal - Hemorrhage - Comatose - Canadian Idol

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Lightfoot has received 15 Juno Awards and been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001, and in May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest honour. Lightfoot is also a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the province of Ontario.

Related Topics:
Juno Award - Grammy Award - Canadian Music Hall of Fame - 1986 - Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame - 2001 - 2003 - Order of Canada - Order of Ontario - Province - Ontario

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