Gordon Lightfoot, singer songwriter dead at 84

Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died aged 84 his family have confirmed.

The family of Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, best known for folk-pop hits ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ and ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’, have announced he has died at the age of 84.

Called a “rare talent” by Bob Dylan, the list of artists who have covered Lightfoot’s work is long and prestigious, they include Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, Anne Murray, Jane’s Addiction and Sarah McLachlan.

“I simply write the songs about where I am and where I’m from,” he said. “I take situations and write poems about them.”

“I just like to stay there and be a part of the totem pole and look after the responsibilities I’ve acquired over the years,” he said in a 2001 interview.

Over his career, Lightfoot received five Grammy nominations and won 17 Juno awards, Canada’s equivalent.
In 1986, he was inducted into the Canadian Recording Industry Hall of Fame.

He received the governor general’s award in 1997 and was ushered into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has lost “one of our greatest singer-songwriters.”

Lightfoot “captured our country’s spirit in his music — and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape.” Trudeau said in a Twitter post.

Lightfoot is survived by his wife, Kim, six children — Fred, Ingrid, Galen, Eric, Miles and Meredith — and several grandchildren.