Kitchener – Gordon Lightfoot’s time-defying style and legendary hits have made him one of Canada’s most anticipated live performers.
He is returning to the Centre in the Square for a spring show on May 3.
Lightfoot’s concerts around the world continually fill to capacity with legions of fans eager to experience his unmistakable sound. Ontario fans will get a chance to see him live during a special four-city concert tour that includes a two-night stop at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on April 19 and 20; followed with appearances at Hamilton Place on May 2 and Centre in the Square in Kitchener on May 3. He will conclude the tour with a return visit to Toronto’s Massey Hall from May 7 through 10.
The Hamilton performance is Lightfoot’s first appearance in the city since the 2004 benefit concert where he gave two emotional performances full of tributes to his friends and family and those responsible for his care at Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University Medical Centre following a near-fatal illness in 2002. Lightfoot’s ties to this community run-deep with his last two recordings, Harmony and A Painter Passing Through, having been produced at Hamilton’s Grant Avenue Studio.
“Canadian fans have always held a special place in my heart,” said Lightfoot. “Our shared cultural experiences have coloured my songs over the years, and performing this music for them live is always such a thrill for me. My memory of my last appearance in Hamilton is particularly special and I look forward to every chance I have to give back to that amazing city.”
Born Nov. 17, 1938 in Orillia, Lightfoot studied at Los Angeles’ Westlake College of Music. He returned to Canada in the early 1960s and began performing at the Riverboat during Toronto’s fabled folk scene. In 1966, his debut album Lightfoot was released. Tracks such as For Lovin’ Me, Early Mornin’ Rain, Steel Rail Blues and Ribbon of Darkness brought him international recognition as a songwriter. Cover versions of his songs were recorded by artists such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, until 1971 when his own version of If You Could Read My Mind became a Top Ten hit.
In 1974, his classic single, Sundown, went to No.1 on the American charts, followed two years later by Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, inspired by a Newsweek magazine article; it reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard charts. By the 1990s he was mostly touring, giving just 50 concerts a year by 1998, mainly in North America, while he released two albums in the period. In 2004, he released his 20th album, Harmony, appeared on Canadian Idol, and toured in 2005.
Lightfoot has won 15 Juno awards and been nominated for five Grammy awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001. In 2003 was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and is also a member of the Order of Ontario, and in 2004 was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
