Gordon Lightfoot Tickets

About Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, C.C. , O.Ont. , LL.D. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian folk singer, composer and lyricist. Lightfoot was born November 17, 1938 to Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. and Jessica Lightfoot in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. He moved to Los Angeles, California during the 1950s where he studied at Hollywood's Westlake College of Music. He returned to Canada by the 1960s and performed in coffee houses on the Toronto folk scene. In 1966 Lightfoot! was released as his debut album. In the mid-1960s he was more known as a songwriter than for his own work, as his songs were recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

He is one of the first Canadian popular singers who achieved real stardom in his own country instead of moving to the United States. In June of 1974, his single, "Sundown", went to No.1 on the American charts.

In the fall of 2002, Lightfoot suffered a near-fatal abdominal hemorrhage, which caused him to go into a comatose state for a short period of time. He later returned to the music business with the album Harmony and an appearance on Canadian Idol.

Lightfoot has received 15 Juno Awards and been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001, and in May 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest honor. Lightfoot is also a member of the Order of Ontario, the highest honor in the province of Ontario.

The title track and first single of Gordon Lightfoot's new album, A Painter Passing Through, has a lot to do with the much-decorated artist who sings it.

"It's very autobiographical," says Lightfoot, who wrote the song and all but two of the 10 cuts on his new disc. "It's sort of the way I see myself now-or could see myself for quite a few years to come. I turn 60 this year. I've settled down now, and I'm in this wonderful position of being allowed to make my own albums-and as usual, the songs on this album paint pictures."

Be they pictures of wildlife, like the symbolic bird of "Ringneck Loon," character sketches like the subway busker in "My Little Love," or Toronto cityscapes like "On Yonge Street," A Painter Passing Through is full of the uplifting spirit and deep meaning that has marked "Gord" Lightfoot's extraordinary career. Since emerging from the Toronto folk club scene in the early '60s, the singer/songwriter has recorded 19 albums (14 for Warner Bros. or Reprise Records). He has had five Grammy nominations and has won 17 Juno Awards in his native Canada. In 1970, in recognition of his contributions in furthering Canadian culture, he received the prestigious Order of Canada citation; last November he was presented the Governor General's Award-the highest official Canadian honor, which is conferred on very few (Joni Mitchell is another) for their international efforts in spreading Canadian culture.

Meanwhile, Lightfoot has continued to tour and record with his estimable core band of guitarist Terry Clements, bassist Rick Haynes, keyboardist Mike Heffernan and drummer Barry Keane. Lightfoot, of course, plays a variety of acoustic guitars, and regularly co-produces his own albums-this time with engineer Bob Doidge.