63 Facts About Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot's mother recognized Lightfoot's musical talent early on and schooled him to become a successful child performer.

Gordon Lightfoot first performed publicly in grade four, singing the Irish-American lullaby "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral", which was broadcast over his school's public address system during a parents' day event.

Gordon Lightfoot credited Williams with teaching him to sing with emotion and to have confidence in his voice.

Gordon Lightfoot was a boy soprano; he appeared periodically on local Orillia radio, performed in local operettas and oratorios, and gained exposure through various Kiwanis music festivals.

Gordon Lightfoot performed live in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, singing "for a couple of beers".

Gordon Lightfoot relocated to Los Angeles in 1958 to study jazz composition and orchestration for two years at the Westlake College of Music.

Gordon Lightfoot soon became known at Toronto folk-oriented coffee houses.

In 1961, Gordon Lightfoot released two singles, both recorded at RCA in Nashville and produced by Louis Innis and Art Snider, that were local hits in Toronto and received some airplay elsewhere in Canada and the northeastern United States.

In 1963, Gordon Lightfoot travelled in Europe and for one year in the UK he hosted the BBC's Country and Western Show TV series before returning to Canada in 1964.

Gordon Lightfoot appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival and started to develop his reputation as a songwriter.

In 1965, Gordon Lightfoot signed a management contract with Albert Grossman, who represented many prominent American folk performers, and signed a recording contract with United Artists who released his version of "I'm Not Sayin'" as a single.

Gordon Lightfoot recorded in Nashville at Forest Hills Music Studio run by Owen Bradley and his son Jerry during the 1960s.

Gordon Lightfoot embarked on his first Canadian national tour in 1967 and went on to tour Europe in addition to his North American dates through the mid-70s.

In 1972, Gordon Lightfoot contracted Bell's palsy, a condition that left his face partially paralyzed for a time.

The affliction curtailed his touring schedule but Gordon Lightfoot nevertheless continued to deliver major hits: in June 1974 his classic single "Sundown" went to No 1 on the American and Canadian charts.

Gordon Lightfoot performed it twice on NBC's The Midnight Special.

Gordon Lightfoot appeared at several 25th anniversary memorial services of the sinking and stayed in personal contact with the family members of the men who perished.

In 1978, Gordon Lightfoot had a top 40 hit in the United States with "The Circle Is Small", which reached the top 5 on the adult contemporary chart.

Gordon Lightfoot later stated that he did not want people thinking that he had stolen his melody from Masser.

Gordon Lightfoot rounded out the decade with the Gord's Gold Volume II, made up mostly of new versions of songs that were not part of the first Gord's Gold project.

Gordon Lightfoot performed with Ian Tyson at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics at McMahon Stadium in Calgary that same year.

Gordon Lightfoot recorded guitar and vocal demos of some of these new songs.

Gordon Lightfoot underwent emergency vascular surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and he remained in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit.

Gordon Lightfoot endured a six-week coma and a tracheotomy, and underwent four surgeries.

In 2003, Gordon Lightfoot underwent follow-up surgery to continue the treatment of his abdominal condition.

The final track on the album, "Gordon Lightfoot", was the only song not previously released by Gordon Lightfoot.

In January 2004, Gordon Lightfoot completed work on Harmony, which he had mostly recorded prior to his illness.

Gordon Lightfoot returned to the road in 2005 on his Better Late Than Never Tour.

On September 14,2006, during a performance in Harris, Michigan, Gordon Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke that temporarily left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand.

Gordon Lightfoot returned to performing nine days later and briefly used a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work.

In February 2010, Gordon Lightfoot was the victim of a death hoax originating on Twitter, when then-CTV journalist David Akin posted on Twitter and Facebook that Gordon Lightfoot had died.

Gordon Lightfoot was at a dental appointment at the time the rumours spread and found out when listening to the radio on his drive home.

Gordon Lightfoot dispelled those rumours by phoning Charles Adler of CJOB live on-air, and made clear that he was alive and well.

Gordon Lightfoot performed at the 100th Grey Cup at Rogers Centre in November 2012, performing "Canadian Railroad Trilogy", and was extremely well received.

Gordon Lightfoot made his first tour of the United Kingdom in almost forty years in 2016, playing eleven dates across England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Gordon Lightfoot played at Canada's 150th birthday celebration on Parliament Hill, July 1,2017, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Prime Minister mentioned that Gordon Lightfoot had played the same stage exactly 50 years earlier, for Canada's 100th birthday.

Gordon Lightfoot had said in 2016 that he would not return to songwriting late in life as it was "such an isolating thing" earlier in his career, affecting his family life.

However, in 2020 Gordon Lightfoot released his 20th studio album, Solo, unaccompanied by other musicians, 54 years after his debut album.

Haynes and Clements remained with Gordon Lightfoot and made up the core of his band.

Three former members of Gordon Lightfoot's band died over the years: Red Shea in 2008, Clements at 63 in 2011, and John Stockfish in 2012.

Alexander Carpenter, professor of musicology at the University of Alberta, noted the number of tributes to Gordon Lightfoot in the media that held him as "quintessentially Canadian" and questioned whether this nationalist, nostalgic view [blurred] "the reality that Gordon Lightfoot was a musician who had a much wider influence on the popular music scene of the 1970s, well beyond Canada's borders".

Gordon Lightfoot acknowledged that he found fidelity difficult in a long-distance relationship brought on by touring, which contributed to the failure of at least two relationships.

Gordon Lightfoot was single for 16 years and had two other children from relationships between his first and second marriages.

Gordon Lightfoot married for a third time in 2014 at Toronto's Rosedale United Church, to Kim Hasse.

Gordon Lightfoot was a long-time resident of Toronto having settled in the Rosedale neighbourhood in the 1970s, which once hosted an infamous after-party following a Maple Leaf Gardens date on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

Gordon Lightfoot played what turned out to be his final concert on October 30,2022, in Winnipeg.

Gordon Lightfoot died of natural causes two weeks later at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto on May 1,2023, at the age of 84.

Gordon Lightfoot's body was later cremated, and his ashes were buried next to his parents at St Andrew's and St James' Cemetery in Orillia.

Gordon Lightfoot received ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1971,1974,1976, and 1977, and was nominated for five Grammy Awards.

Gordon Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Gordon Lightfoot was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998.

Gordon Lightfoot was a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honour in the province of Ontario.

On June 24,2012, Gordon Lightfoot was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a New York City ceremony, along with Bob Seger.

Gordon Lightfoot received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University in spring 1979 and on June 6,2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.

Gordon Lightfoot was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in May 2003.

On February 6,2012, Gordon Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

On June 16,2014, Gordon Lightfoot was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by SOCAN at the 2014 SOCAN Awards in Toronto.

On October 23,2015, Gordon Lightfoot was honoured with a 4-metre tall bronze sculpture created by Timothy Schmalz in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario.

In 2017, Gordon Lightfoot rated fifth in the CBC's list of the 25 best Canadian songwriters ever, and musician Ronnie Hawkins called Gordon Lightfoot the greatest songwriter in the world.

Gordon Lightfoot was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Gordon Lightfoot was the subject of the 2019 documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind.

In 2022, Gordon Lightfoot received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.