Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer/songwriter behind the people hits “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Sunset” and “If You May Learn My Thoughts,” died at age 84 on Monday (Might 1), his household has introduced.
“Gordon Lightfoot handed away this night in a Toronto hospital at 7:30 p.m.,” an announcement on Lightfoot’s Fb web page introduced, promising “extra to return.”
Earlier this month, Lightfoot had canceled his upcoming U.S. and Canada tour dates resulting from well being points. “Gordon Lightfoot proclaims the cancellation of his U.S. and Canadian live performance schedule for 2023,” an announcement learn on the time. “The singer is presently experiencing some well being associated points and is unable to verify rescheduled dates at the moment.”
Lightfoot’s six-decade profession started within the early Nineteen Sixties on the Toronto folks circuit and went worldwide within the Nineteen Seventies because of a string of influential hits. He scored 4 high 10 hits on the Billboard Scorching 100 within the ’70s, beginning with “If You May Learn My Thoughts,” which peaked at No. 5 in 1971. Subsequent up have been “Sunset” — his lone No. 1 — and “Carefree Freeway” (No. 10), each from 1974’s Sunset — additionally his solely No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.
Lastly, there was essentially the most epic track of his catalog, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which was launched in 1976 and peaked at No. 2 on the Scorching 100. The track instructed the story of the deadly sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald a 12 months earlier in Lake Superior, which killed all 29 males aboard the Nice Lakes freighter. “They may have break up up or they may have capsized/ They might have broke deep and took water/ And all that is still is the faces and the names/ Of the wives and the sons and the daughters,” the poetic lyrics learn.
Lightfoot was inducted into the Songwriters Corridor of Fame in 2012. He was nominated for 4 Grammys however by no means received — greatest folks efficiency for Did She Point out My Title (1968), greatest pop vocal efficiency, male for “If You May Learn My Thoughts” (1971) and track of the 12 months and greatest pop vocal efficiency, male for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976).
Lightfoot is survived by his spouse, actress Kim Hasse, whom he married in 2011. He had six kids from his previous relationships, together with two earlier marriages.
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.
