Gordon Lightfoot is perhaps the most accomplished and well-known singer/songwriter to ever come out of Canada. He is internationally known for such monumental folk/pop/rock hits as “Sundown”, “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Early Mornin’ Rain”, “Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald” and many more.
His songs have been covered by such music giants as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Glen Campbell and Don Williams.
Lightfoot began his music career fronting a variety of rock ‘n roll bands around Toronto while still in his teens. In 1958, he relocated to Los Angeles where he found work writing jingles for TV commercials but returned to Toronto in 1962 where he rapidly became a fixture in the city’s burgeoning folk music scene. He made his first records for a local Toronto label in 1963, but it wasn’t until he signed a major record deal and released his first album in 1966 that he became widely known. In 1970, he scored his first top ten hit with “If You Could Read My Mind” beginning a decade of chart-topping albums and hit songs highlighted by his #1 hit in 1974 with “Sundown”.
After nearly 20 years of success, Lightfoot went into self-imposed semi-retirement in the late 1980s but re-emerged in 1993 with the highly acclaimed album “Waiting For You”. His 1998 album “Painter Passing Through” also drew high praise from critics and fans alike.
