Leonard Cohen
September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016
Leonard Cohen was a revered Canadian poet, author, and most famously, singer-songwriter. Over a career that spanned almost 50 years, Cohen provided the dimly-lit smoky-bar soundtrack for people who needed hope, lost faith, felt despair, or longed for love. Initially planning a career as an author and poet, Cohen wanted to reach more people, so he switched gears and found himself singing and performing in New York City at the relatively late age of 33. He quickly became an unlikely pop star – rugged baritone voice, simple chord structures, and a private, guarded life within a profession that celebrated extroversion. His career might have seemed over when upon the release of his most famous song, 1984’s “Hallelujah,” his label head reportedly told him, “Look, Leonard; we know you’re great, but we don’t know if you’re any good,” before dropping him. But his songs eventually caught on, and younger generations of singer-songwriters borrowed them to include in their own canons. “Hallelujah” alone was recorded by over 200 artists, including Bob Dylan, Justin Timberlake, k.d. lang, John Cale, and most famously, Jeff Buckley. In all, Cohen’s tunes have been covered by more than 2000. That list includes such greats as Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Willie Nelson, R.E.M., and Tori Amos. In 2008, at the age of 74, and facing financial ruin, Cohen embarked on an ambitious (and triumphant!) world tour that would last about three years before his health started to get the better of him. After getting well, he hit the road again doing a seemingly endless series of impassioned shows that ran north of three hours a piece. That lasted through December of 2013, when he fell ill again. But Cohen refused to be bound by his health and set out to record what would be the final two albums of his lifetime, 2014’s Popular Problems, and this year’s You Want it Darker, recorded in his home with him in a wheelchair and singing many of the sessions in physical pain. That album was released just two weeks before his death, and served as a profound self-eulogy in much the same way as David Bowie‘s Lazarus. It has been reported, thankfully, that excluding his last album, his late-life career revival earned him around $10 million. Leonard Cohen was 82 when he passed away on November 7, 2016.
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