Leonard Cohen Is Dead

ORIGIN
Leonard Cohen was a Canadian folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was also an accomplished poet and novelist. Cohen was born into a middle class Jewish family on September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Canada. His parents were Marsha Klonitsky and Nathan Cohen. He had a sister named Esther. Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School followed by Westmount High School. He graduated from McGill University in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Cohen served as Debating Union president during his time at McGill. He studied briefly at Columbia University.

CAREER
Cohen learned the guitar at the age of 13. He then formed the country-folk group The Buckskin Boys. They performed locally at cafes and square dances. Cohen’s first book of poetry titled ‘Let Us Compare Mythologies’ was published in 1956. His second poetry collection ‘The Spice-Box of the Earth’ was published five years later in 1961. The publication saw good reviews and was a commercial success. Cohen followed up with the collections Flowers for Hitler (1964) and Parasites of Heaven (1966). He also published two successful novels in the 1960s, ‘The Favorite Game’ and ‘Beautiful Losers’.

Cohen moved to the United States in 1967 to pursue music. He signed to Columbia Records and his debut studio album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, was released in December 1967. It was certified Gold in the U.S. and featured the singles “Suzanne” and “So Long, Marianne”. His sophomore album, Songs from a Room, was released in 1969. It peaked at #63 on the Billboard 200 and was led by the song “Bird on the Wire”. Cohen released a total of 14 studio albums, 8 live albums and 44 singles. Selected works include the albums New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974), I’m Your Man (1988), and the single Hallelujah (1984). His songs have been covered by artists like Judy Collins, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

In 1991, Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. He was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

PERSONAL
Leonard Cohen died on November 10, 2016 at the age of 82. No official cause of death was disclosed. He was 5ft 8in tall and had a net worth of $20 million. Cohen never married. He dated Los Angeles artist Suzanne Elrod with whom he had two children, Adam and Lorca. He also dated Marianne Ihlen, photographer Dominique Issermann, and actress Rebecca De Mornay.

Leonard Cohen Bio, Net Worth, Height