Gordon Lightfoot, the folk/country legend who is one of Canada’s most beloved cultural exports, is dead at 84 years old. He died yesterday (May 1) of natural causes at 7:30 p.m. at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital, spokesperson Victoria Lord told CNN.
This comes after Lightfoot canceled his remaining US and Canadian concerts for 2023 due to “health-related issues,” per a post on his Facebook page.
In an official statement shared today (May 2), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau honored and reflected on Lightfoot:
“I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing yesterday of Gordon Lightfoot, one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters.
Mr. Lightfoot gave us so many special moments over the years. With a career that spanned over half a century, Mr. Lightfoot’s music told stories that captured the Canadian spirit, none more so than his iconic Canadian Railroad Trilogy, which will forever be a part of our country’s musical heritage.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lightfoot as a child — he spent the afternoon in the Gatineau Hills with my family, and it is a memory I will always cherish.
Mr. Lightfoot received many Juno Awards and Grammy nominations, and was honoured as a member of Canada’s Walk Of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. He received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 1997, and was appointed Companion of the Order Of Canada in 2003.
On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I express our deepest sympathies to Gordon’s family, friends, and his many, many fans. His legacy will live on in the dynamic Canadian soundscape he helped to shape.”
Lightfoot’s recording career began in the 1960s and his commercial peak was the 1974 album Sundown. It was No. 1 in the US and Canada and spawned the single “Sundown,” his lone chart-topper in the US.