77 Facts About Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s.

Gordon Lightfoot has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists.

Several of Gordon Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally.

Gordon Lightfoot's songs have been recorded by many notable artists.

Gordon Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta and has received numerous honours and awards.

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 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 held concerts in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, singing "for a couple of beers".

Gordon Lightfoot was an accomplished high school track-and-field competitor and set school records for shot-put and pole vault, as well as playing the starting nose tackle on his school's Georgian Bay championship-winning football team.

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

Gordon Lightfoot lived in Los Angeles for a time, but he missed Toronto and returned there in 1960, living in Canada thereafter, though he did much work in the United States, under an H-1B visa.

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

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

Gordon Lightfoot sang with Terry Whelan in a duo called the Two-Tones.

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

Gordon Lightfoot appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival and began to develop a 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 the Nashville, Tennessee area 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 performed in New York City.

Between 1967 and 1974, Gordon Lightfoot toured Europe and was well-received on two tours of Australia.

UA continued to release "Best of" album compilations in the 1970s even after Gordon Lightfoot became a success at Warner Bros.

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" from the album Sundown went to No 1 on the American and Canadian charts.

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

Gordon Lightfoot wrote it after travelling from Flagstaff, Arizona on Interstate 17 to Phoenix.

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 the Edmund Fitzgerald.

In 1978, Gordon Lightfoot had another top 40 hit on the United States Hot 100, a re-recorded version of "The Circle Is Small," which reached number 33.

The album Dream Street Rose has the folk-pop sound that Gordon Lightfoot established during the previous decade.

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 his follow-up compilation Gord's Gold, Vol.

Gordon Lightfoot performed with Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

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 he underwent four surgical operations.

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 his album Harmony, which he had mostly recorded prior to his illness.

On September 14,2006, while in the middle of a performance, 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 for a brief time used a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work.

In 2007, Gordon Lightfoot had full use of his right hand and played all of the guitar parts in concert as he originally wrote them.

In February 2010, Gordon Lightfoot was the victim of a death hoax originating from 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, the DJ and radio station he heard reporting his demise, and did an interview expressing that he was alive and well.

In 2012, Gordon Lightfoot continued to tour, telling a sold-out crowd June 15 at Ottawa's National Arts Centre that he still performs sixty times a year.

Gordon Lightfoot played two shows at the NAC after his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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

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, during Canada's 100th birthday.

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

However, in 2020 Gordon Lightfoot announced plans for a new studio album for the first time in nearly two decades.

On March 20,2020, Gordon Lightfoot released Solo without the accompaniment of other musicians.

Gordon Lightfoot played his final concert on October 30,2022 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Gordon Lightfoot hosted his own Canadian variety show, played with Ian Tyson, and became band leader for Tommy Hunter's TV show in the 1980s on CBC.

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

Three members of Gordon Lightfoot's band died over the years: Red Shea in June 2008 from pancreatic cancer, Clements at 63 on February 20,2011, following a stroke, and original bassist John Stockfish from natural causes on August 20,2012, at 69.

Haynes, Keane, and Heffernan continued to tour and record with Gordon Lightfoot, adding guitarist Carter Lancaster from Hamilton, Ontario, in 2011; a "great player", according to Gordon Lightfoot.

Gordon Lightfoot acknowledged that his musical touring and the fact that he found fidelity difficult in a long-distance relationship contributed to the failure of at least two relationships.

Gordon Lightfoot was unmarried for 16 years and had two other children from relationships between his first and second marriages: Gaylen McGee and Eric Gordon Lightfoot.

Gordon Lightfoot wed for a third time on December 19,2014, at 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.

In mid-April 2023, Gordon Lightfoot's declining health caused him to cancel the remainder of his 2023 tour.

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

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 his biographer, 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 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.