Singer and poet Leonard Cohen has died aged 82
Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and artist, Leonard Cohen, has died aged 82.
Sony Music Canada confirmed the legendary singer’s passing in a Facebook post late on Thursday night. It’s been reported by The Guardain that Cohen died on Monday and was buried at a private ceremony in Montreal.
"It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away," the statement on Facebook read. "We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries. "A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief."
Cohen, who had just released his 14th album, You Want It Darker, on October 21st to critical acclaim, had a career that spanned nearly 50 years.
"My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records," Cohen's son, Adam, said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor."
Famous for writing one of the most well known and most covered songs of all time, “Hallelujah,” Leonard Cohen is responsible for inspiring his peers such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, along with a generation of artists, such as the late Jeff Buckley, who covered “Hallelujah” in 1991 and introduced a younger audience to Cohen’s music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q?feature=oembed
"Unmatched in his creativity, insight and crippling candor, Leonard Cohen was a true visionary whose voice will be sorely missed," his manager, Robert Kory, wrote in a statement. "I was blessed to call him a friend, and for me to serve that bold artistic spirit firsthand, was a privilege and great gift. He leaves behind a legacy of work that will bring insight, inspiration and healing for generations to come."
Born in Quebec on September 21st, 1934, Cohen originally had literary dreams of becoming a novelist and a poet. However, after visiting New York in 1966, Cohen was inspired by the city’s burgeoning folk music scene. He released his debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, in 1967.
In 1995, Cohen gave up music to join the Mt. Baldy Zen Center outside of Los Angeles to become an ordained Buddhist monk, taking on the Dharma name Jikan (“silence”). Releasing two albums between then and 2005, New Songs, a collaboration with Sharon Robinson in 2001, and Dear Heather in 2004, the singer returned to music full time in 2008 after it emerged that his then-manager, Kelley Lynch, had embezzled over $5 million from his retirement fund.
To recoup the the lost money, Cohen embarked on a five year world tour and continued to record. His last album, You Want It Darker, was recorded with the assistance of his son Adam due to severe back pain.
Tributes for the last singer started to pour in on social media last night.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudson, among others, took to Twitter to pay tribute to the singer.
No other artist's music felt or sounded like Leonard Cohen's. Yet his work resonated across generations. Canada and the world will miss him.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 11, 2016
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RIP Leonard Cohen. Thank you for you dedication to music, & writing one of my favorite songs to sing "Hallelujah". https://t.co/JsTjNmmarC
— Jennifer Hudson (@IAMJHUD) November 11, 2016
A spirit and soul beyond compare.
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) November 11, 2016
leonard cohen 😥
— Alanis Morissette (@Alanis) November 11, 2016
"Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried, in my way, to be free."
-Leonard Cohen— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) November 11, 2016
R.I.P. Leonard Cohen
— Carole King (@Carole_King) November 11, 2016
Last month in a profile in the New Yorker, it was was revealed the Leonard Cohen was in poor health.
Speaking in the magazine, the singer opened up about reaching the end of his life.
"I'm ready to die," he said. "I hope it's not too uncomfortable. That's about it for me."
Clarifying his statements at an album playback of his new album at the Canadian consulate, Cohen said that he had always had a flair for dramatics.
[tempo-video id=”5206790642001″ account=”4607804089001″]
"I said I was ready to die recently, he said. "And I think I was exaggerating. I’ve always been into self-dramatization. "I intend to live forever.
