In 1988, he performed at the opening ceremony of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. His material has been widely covered, by artists ranging from Dylan and Young to Elvis Presley. Though the hits dried up for Lightfoot on both sides of the border during the ‘80s, he remained a revered figure in folk circles. “Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever,” Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his 1985 career anthology “Biograph.” Forward momentum.”Īmong Lightfoot’s greatest admirers was his contemporary Bob Dylan, who appeared at the 1986 Juno Awards (the northern equivalent of the Grammys) to induct the musician into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Or the fact that they’re so simple… They’re all tunes that move along and have a forward momentum, which is what I look for in my writing. Reflecting on the reason for his popularity in an expansive 2019 Rolling Stone profile, Lightfoot explained that audiences embraced his songs because of “the turn of the phrase.
The maritime disaster ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” hit No. 10 here) – topped the charts in both countries. 1 in both Canada and America) and the upbeat “Carefree Highway” (No. His 1974 album “Sundown” - which contained the ominous title single (his only pop 45 to reach No. 1 albums from 1972 to 1974), he maintained a high profile stateside throughout the ‘70s. Though Lightfoot remained a bigger star at home (where he logged three consecutive No. hit “If You Could Read My Mind,” a heavily orchestrated ballad renamed after its hit, the LP rose to No. His 1970 Reprise debut “Sit Down Young Stranger” contained the No. While he was acclaimed at home and served as an inspiration for such younger Canada-bred performers as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, success in America eluded him until he signed with Warner Bros.’ Reprise imprint (which released Young and Mitchell’s breakthrough recordings). Lightfoot rose to prominence in the mid-‘60s, penning such folk standards as “Early Morning Rain” (a major hit for the Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia Tyson), “For Loving Me” and “Ribbon of Darkness,” as well as the ambitious “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” a sort of Northern equivalent to Mickey Newbury’s “American Trilogy.” 1 on the adult contemporary chart, as did “Carefree Highway” and “Rainy Day People,” during his mid-’70s chart heyday. Lightfoot topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 with “Sundown” and also had top 5 songs with “If You Could Read My Mind” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” All three songs reached No.
Lightfoot’s death was confirmed by his longtime agent, Victoria Lord. during the ‘70s, died of natural causes on Monday evening at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian folk music laureate who crossed over to major pop fame in the U.S.
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