Singer-songwriter’s great career spans five decades Lightfoot’s legacy

Staff report

WARREN

After 50 years of making hit songs, it’s safe to say that Gordon Lightfoot is in the company of the all-time greats.

His vast song catalog includes hits such as “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway,” “Sundown,” “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Rainy Day People.”

In March, the legendary artist launched a 59-city concert tour of North America and Europe titled “Gordon Lightfoot – 50 Years On The Carefree Highway,” which includes a concert Friday night at Packard Music Hall in Warren.

He is playing his hits as well as some deep album cuts for die-hard fans on the tour, and weaving them together with behind-the-scenes stories and personal anecdotes culled from his career.

Lightfoot has recorded 20 albums and has five Grammy nominations. His songs have been in steady radio rotation for half a century, charting at No. 1 five times and landing in the top 40 more than 20 times.

In addition to his success as a songwriter and performer, Lightfoot has had his songs recorded by many great artists, including Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Judy Collins, Johnny Mathis, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Sarah McLachlan, Barbra Streisand, Peter Paul & Mary, Harry Belafonte, Jane’s Addiction, Richie Havens, Glen Campbell, Toby Keith, George Hamilton IV and Eric Clapton.

In 2012, Lightfoot was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and he was honored for his role in defining the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and ’70s. There are fewer than 400 inductees enshrined in the Songwriters Hall.

In his native Canada, Lightfoot has been decorated with the highest honors bestowed to a civilian, including the Governor’s General Award and the Companion to the Order of Canada honor of merit.

He also has won 17 Juno Awards – Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards.

Lightfoot is a member of Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2007, Canada Post honored him by issuing an official Gordon Lightfoot postage stamp.

Lightfoot also is in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.