Leonard Cohen will always be in our memories

Leonard Norman Cohen, was a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, novelist, and painter. He was born on September 21, 1934 in Westmount Canada. Leonard recently died on November 7th 2016 in Los Angeles, California. He lives on through his two children, Adam and Lorca Cohen.

About Leonard’s early life

Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School, completed grades seven through nine at Herzliah High School, where his literary mentor Irving Layton taught,Leonard then transferred in 1948 to Westmount High School, where he studied music and poetry. He became especially interested in the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Cohen involved himself actively beyond Westmount's curriculum, in photography, on the yearbook staff, as a cheerleader, in campus clubs (Art, Current Events), and even when "heavily involved in the school's theater program", he served in the position of President of the Students' Council.

In 1951, Cohen enrolled at McGill University, where he became president of the McGill Debating Union and won the Chester MacNaghten Literary Competition for the poems "Sparrows" and "Thoughts of a Landsman." Cohen published his first poems in March 1954 in the magazine CIV/n. The issue also included poems by Cohen's poet–professors (who were also on the editorial board), Irving Layton and Louis Dudek, Cohen graduated from McGill the following year with a B.A. degree.

Recording Career

In 1967, disappointed with his lack of financial success as a writer, Cohen moved to the United States to pursue a career as a folk music singer–songwriter. During the 1960s, he was a fringe figure in Andy Warhol's "Factory" crowd. Warhol speculated that Cohen had spent time listening to Nico in clubs and that this had influenced his musical style. His song "Suzanne" became a hit for Judy Collins (who subsequently covered a number of Cohen's other songs, as well), and was for many years his most covered song. Collins recalls that when she first met him, he said he couldn't sing or play the guitar, nor did he think "Suzanne" was even a song.

In 1970, Cohen toured for the first time, in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival. In 1972, he toured again in Europe and Israel. When his performance in Israel didn't seem to be going well, however, he walked off the stage, went to his dressing room, and took some LSD. He then heard the audience clamoring for his reappearance by singing to him in Hebrew, and under the influence of the psychedelic, he returned to finish the show. Additionally, in 1973, he played a special performance for a group of IDF soldiers in the outposts of Sinai during the Yom Kippur War.

Cohens Songs

• Hallelujah

• Suzanne

• Dance me to the end of love

• So long Marianne

• Everybody knows

• Famous blue raincoat

• You want it darker

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