'Hallelujah' Singer-Songwriter Leonard Cohen dead at age 82

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leonard Cohen, the baritone-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter who seamlessly blended spirituality and sexuality in songs like "Hallelujah," ''Suzanne" and "Bird on a Wire," has died at age 82, his son said.

"My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles," Adam Cohen said in a statement Thursday. "He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor."

Cohen, also renowned as a poet, novelist and aspiring Zen monk, blended folk music with a darker, sexual edge that won him fans around the world and among fellow musicians like Bob Dylan and R.E.M.

He remained wildly popular into his 80s, when his deep voice plunged to seriously gravelly depths. He toured as recently as earlier this year and released a new album, "You Want it Darker," just last month. Adam Cohen said his father died with the knowledge that he'd made one of his greatest records.

Cohen's "Hallelujah" went from cult hit to modern standard, now an unending staple on movies, TV shows, YouTube videos, reality shows and high-school choir concerts.