Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84

Gordon Light foot, a legendary folk singer-songwriter whose hits including “Early Morning Rain” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" told a tale of Canadian identity that was exported worldwide, died on Monday.

He was 84. Representative Victoria Lord said the musician died at a Toronto hospital. His cause of death was not immediately available. In 1986, he was inducted into the Canadian Recording Industry Hall of Fame, now the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He received the Governor General’s award in 1997 and was ushered into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.

Most of his songs are deeply autobiographical with lyrics that probe his own experiences in a frank manner and explore issues surrounding the Canadian national identity.