LEONARD COHEN Biography - Theater, Opera and Movie personalities

 
 

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LEONARD COHEN

Name: Leonard Norman Cohen                                                           
Born: 21 September 1934 Montreal, Quebec, Canada                                     
                                                                                     
Leonard Norman Cohen, CC (born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec)     
is a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first         
book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963.                       
                                                                                     
Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of             
Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation,       
sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his     
influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s     
he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with       
accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.               
                                                                                     
His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and             
complex interpersonal relationships.                                                 
                                                                                     
Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more     
than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted       
into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame       
and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian         
honour. Cohen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10,       
2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of               
songwriters".