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Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr.

(November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023)

Gordon Lightfoot was a Canadian singer-songwriter and
guitarist who achieved international success in folk,
folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with
helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and
1970s. He 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.

Lightfoot was born in
Orillia, Ontario, on
November 17,
1938, to Jessie
Vick Trill Lightfoot and
Gordon Lightfoot Sr., who
owned a local dry cleaning business. He
was of Scottish descent. He had an older sister,
Beverley (1935–2017). His mother recognized
Lightfoot's musical talent early on and schooled him
to become a successful child performer. He 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.

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

During the 1980s and the 1990s, Lightfoot recorded
six more original albums and a compilation for
Warner Bros./Reprise.

One album, “Dream Street Rose” has the folk-pop
sound that Lightfoot established during the previous
decade. In addition to the title song, it includes songs
such as ‘Ghosts of Cape Horn’ and ‘On the High Seas’.
It also includes the Leroy Van Dyke 1950s composition ‘The Auctioneer’, a bluegrass-like number
that was a concert staple for Lightfoot from the mid-1960s to the 1980s.

Lightfoot was married three times. His first marriage in April 1963 was to Swede, Brita Ingegerd
Olaisson, with whom he had two children, Fred and Ingrid. They divorced in 1973, the marriage
ending in part because of his infidelity. 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.

The song ‘If You Could Read My Mind’, which has become a defining anthem following his death,
was written in reflection upon his disintegrating marriage.

Constructed from various sources