Music
Leonard Cohen
Singer, songwriter and poet
Born 1934 · Died 2016
Photo: Gorupdebesanez · CC BY-SA 3.0
«There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.»
Leonard Cohen wrote Hallelujah, Suzanne and Famous Blue Raincoat, and was a published poet and novelist before he ever recorded a song. He released his first album at thirty-three and was still touring in his late seventies.
Key achievements
- Wrote Hallelujah, one of the most covered songs ever
- Published poet and novelist before his first album
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2008
Universities
Montreal, Quebec
Took a bachelor's degree in English in 1955, publishing his first book of poetry the following year.
Facts
- He led a country and western band called the Buckskin Boys while a student in Montreal.
- Hallelujah took him years and dozens of verses to write, and it was ignored for a decade before becoming one of the most covered songs ever.
- He spent five years in a Zen monastery in California in the 1990s, working as the cook for his teacher.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.