How Gordon Lightfoot Assisted in Shaping Canada

819 Words4 Pages
Gordon Lightfoot; a Canadian born performing artist who has been internationally recognized as Canada’s greatest storyteller. He has written multiple songs about Canada right down to its lakes, land, streets and even a few of its legends. He has travelled nationally spreading his music, and at the same time Canada’s culture, and eventually went international. He has been very inspirational to other Canadian artist and some have become successful by walking road he has paved for them. He has proven himself worthy of recognition to many people as he has won multiple awards for his contributions to Canada, or for his successful music. As a performing artist, Gordon Lightfoot is one of the most significant people in shaping Canada’s culture by spreading it through his lyrical folk music. Even from a young age his talent began to develop. Emerging from the folk scene in the 60’s, Gordon Lightfoot has grown to be one of Canada’s most iconic performing artists. Born November 17th, 1938, in Orilla, Ontario, Lightfoot’s talent was recognized by his mother and she encouraged him and groomed him to be a successful performer at a young age. Lightfoot was in a choir when he was young and claims to have gained some valuable knowledge about performing from his choirmaster Ray Williams. His first major performance was at Massey Hall in Toronto when he was twelve after winning a competition. When he was a teenager he taught himself folk-guitar and drums, and learned to play the piano. He performed a lot in his high school years. After he released his first album ‘Lightfoot’ in 1966, he was named Canada’s top folk-singer. He went on to make nineteen more albums and most had multiple Canada-themed songs on them. He is internationally recognized as a large contributor to Canada’s culture. For his vast contributions to Canada, Gordon

More about How Gordon Lightfoot Assisted in Shaping Canada

Open Document