Gordon Lightfoot celebrated his 80th
birthday on November 17, 2018 with a special hometown performance in Orillia,
Ontario. Now in his sixth decade of touring, the legendary singer-songwriter is
considered a national treasure and is beloved by music fans around the world.
His career as young singer performing on local
radio, in Kiwanis festivals, and appearing at Massey Hall at the age of 13. He studied at Los Angeles’ Westlake College of Music, and
returned to Canada in the early 1960s where he began performing at the
‘’Riverboat’’ in Toronto and in coffee houses throughout Canada and the United
States. In 1966, his debut album Lightfoot! was released. Tracks such as For
Lovin’ Me, Early Morning Rain, Steel Rail Blues and Ribbon of Darkness brought
him international recognition as a songwriter.
As a result, cover versions of his songs were recorded by artists such
as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Barbara Streisand, Johnny Cash, and countless others.
In 1971 Gordon earned his first Top Ten hit when If You Could Read My Mind
became and international sensation. In 1974, his classic single, Sundown, went
to No. 1 on the American charts, followed two years later by The Wreck of the
Edmund Fitzgerald, inspired by a Newsweek magazine article; it reached No. 2 on
the U.S. Billboard charts. In 2004, he released his 20th album
Harmony, and his iconic Massey Hall residencies are celebrated with the release
of his most recent album Massey Hall Moments – All Live, a collection of live
recordings of the finest Massey Hall performances, recorded between 1998 and
2001.
Gordon Lightfoot continues to perform
extensively throughout the United States and Canada, giving approximately 75-80
concerts each year; and more recently appears at Massey Hall every second year.
Mr. Lightfoot has won 15 Juno Awards and
been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music
Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In
May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and is also a member of
the Order of Ontario. In 2004 was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall
of Fame and, in 2012 into the U.S. Songwriters Hall of Fame.