Remembering Gordon Lightfoot, BHS Honorary Life Member
The Barbershop Harmony Society mourns the passing of Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023), the legendary Canadian folk singer, song writer — and Barbershopper.
As a youth growing up in Orillia, Ontario, Gordon counted among his musical influences George Shields, the BHS Hall of Famer, who remained a mentor and friend throughout his life. Gordon sang in several quartets in his teens, including the Collegiate Four and The Teentimers.
His distinctive voice and heartfelt lyrical craftsmanship brought him artistic acclaim and widespread popularity as a recording artist and performer, with numerous chart hits through the 1970s, perhaps most famously “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald.”
In 2006, in recognition of a long career that “celebrates the human voice as a means of artistic expression and sharing stories about the human experience,” Gordon Lightfoot was named an Honorary Life Member of the Barbershop Harmony Society.