Gordon Lightfoot Canadian folk music icon 

On a cool morning in Orillia, Ontario, with my album in hand, I visited St. Andrew’s and St. James’ Cemetery and discovered the family grave of music legend Gordon Lightfoot Jr.

Born and raised not far from the cemetery, young Gordon sang soprano in the choir at Orillia’s St. Paul’s United Church. He often credited that choir and its choirmaster with teaching him how to sing with emotion and helping him build confidence in his voice.

Gordon’s boyhood church, Orillia. Where his talent as a singer was cultivated.

After years of traveling and performing across Canada, the United States, and England, Gordon began to gain recognition—though a breakthrough hit still eluded him. That changed in 1970 with “If You Could Read My Mind,” which sold over a million copies and marked the start of an extraordinary career.

Over the next seven years, Lightfoot released a string of successful albums, cementing his place as a singer-songwriter and Canadian music icon. Rush frontman Geddy Lee once called him “our poet laureate, our iconic singer-songwriter.”

A 15-time Juno Award winner and Companion of the Order of Canada, Gordon’s songs were recorded by legends like Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, and fellow Canadian Anne Murray.

A lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan who performed at Massey Hall over 170 times, Lightfoot once reflected, “I’ve been almost dead a couple of times, once almost for real… I have more incentive to continue now because I feel I’m on borrowed time, in terms of age.”

Gordon Lightfoot died in Toronto on the evening of Monday May 1st, 2023. He was 84.

1938-2023