Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died this week at 84. His hits, spanning the genres of folk, folk-rock, and country, included “If You Could Read My Mind” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Lightfoot honed his voice as a young chorister at St. Paul’s United Church in his hometown of Orillia, Ont. He moved to California in 1958 to study jazz composition, supporting himself by writing commercial jingles.
Over the course of his career, he was honoured with 16 Juno Awards and five Grammy nominations. A Companion of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Ontario, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, and Canada’s Walk of Fame.
