Leonard Cohen, the dark poet, dies at 82
By ALAN SMASON
Leonard Cohen, the reclusive Sony recording artist, has died at the age of 82. The cause of death was not reported.
Leonard Cohen (Photo from Leonard Cohen website)
“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist Leonard Cohen has passed away,” read a statement posted to Cohen’s Facebook page. “We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”
The statement went on to note that a memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date and requested the family’s right to privacy be respected during this period of grief.
Cohen was considered an artist’s artist and his career stretched over a period of more than five decades. Starting in the 1960s, his influence as a songwriter and poet was only eclipsed by Bob Dylan, who was said to be among his many admirers. Cohen was also favored by fellow songwriter Willie Nelson.
Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1934, Cohen was only 9 when his father passed away. His family was highly regarded in the Jewish community there and he became steeped in the practice of Judaism. Eventually, he graduated from McGill University, before briefly attending school at Columbia University and working a number of odd jobs in New York. Dissatisfied, he headed off to the Greek island of Hydra for several years and with funds left behind by his father, he purchased a home there and pursued a stint as a novelist and poet, publishing a volume of his poetry and two novels.
It was on Hydra that he met his muse, Marianne Ilhen, a stunning Norwegian beauty to whom he was married for several years. After that relationship fizzled, he had an intense relationship with Suzanne Elrod, the woman who was the mother of his two children Adam and Lorca. Cohen’s affair with Elrod was only the first of many relationships he had with women, some who also achieved significant fame for themselves. Among his paramours were singers Jennifer Warnes and Laura Branigan, actress Rebecca De Mornay and singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. His current girlfriend was Anjani Thomas.
Among his earliest successes was the release of his album”Songs of Leonard Cohen” in 1967. Not surprisingly, his first measured success was “Suzanne,” a song also recorded by Judy Collins, Noel Harrison and others.
That was followed by two more albums – “Songs from a Room” and “Songs of Love and Hate” – released two years apart in 1969 and 1971, respectively. It was during this period that he began to exhaustively tour around the world, stating that his purpose was to meet his fans and to bring his music to them.
Cohen’s deeply personal lyrics characterized his songs and he often incorporated Hebrew phrases into them. The brooding nature of his work was later attributed to periods of intense depression that continually plagued him.
One of his most prolific of recordings is “Hallelujah,” which achieved great fame when released 22 years ago by Jeff Buckley. It was also prominently featured in the HBO series “Treme” as sung by John Boutté.
Other albums released by Cohen include “New Skin for the Old Ceremony,” “Death of a Ladies Man,” “I’m Your Man,” “The Future,” “Recent Songs,” and “Various Positions.”
Cohen, who always observed Shabbat, stopped touring and became a Buddhist monk in 1995 for much of the next decade. He considered Buddhism as helping him cope with those periods of deep depression that characterized much of his life.
Following the discovery he had been the victim of a $5 million embezzlement by his accountant, Cohen was forced to take to the road again, playing for 387 nights during the period from 2008 to 2013. Billed “The Grand Tour,” Cohen’s tour was intent on raising funds to guarantee he would have money on which to retire.
Cohen’s most recent recording, “You Want It Darker,” was released earlier this year in October. He had just learned of the August passing of Ilhen during the period when he was finishing the recording and in an almost ghoulish prediction after its release said he, too, was “ready to die.”
