TORONTO - Good thing Gordon Lightfoot has a sense of humor. Even about his own supposed death.
For an hour or so on Thursday afternoon, the Canadian folk-pop music icon was reported to have died — no thanks to false rumours, tweets and even a bogus media report from Canwest.
But Lightfoot had a good laugh about it when reached by QMI Agency.
“I’m fine, thank you — the whole thing’s a joke,” said Lightfoot, 71, on the phone Thursday just after 3 p.m. EST from his Toronto-based office, Early Morning Productions.
“I don’t know how it came about at all. The whole thing is a hoax. I’m in great health. I’m doing fine. I’m running around right now, doing my errands.”
Lightfoot was at the dentist when the erroneous story first started circulating in the Twitter and Internet worlds.
Add Lightfoot’s name to the growing list of celebrity death hoaxes, which previously have victimized the likes of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeff Goldblum and Miley Cyrus.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” Lightfoot said. “I think it’s rather amusing, actually. Yes, I do. I’m just happy that it’s not so.”
Lightfoot had a real brush with death in 2002, when he suffered a near-fatal stomach aneurysm. There were reports then he was near death, but he has since recovered.
To wit, he has a scheduled spring tour of Canada coming up.
Just two weeks ago in Toronto, Lightfoot appeared on stage with The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie in the first of a six-part concert series by the Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame named If You Could Read My Mind, after Lightfoot’s 1970 breakthrough song.
Last November, Lightfoot also performed his annual multi-night stand at Toronto’s Massey Hall.
He told QMI Agency last November, what with no more plans to record new music, that concerts are now his focus. But he said he makes sure to not overtax himself.
“As far as my health goes, it’s good,” said Lightfoot at the time. “I recovered from what could be termed mechanical failure due to a burst artery, which would kill most, but somehow I fought my way back from that.”
With his distinctive pop-folk sound, Lightfoot had a slew of international hits in the 1970s, including If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Rainy Day People and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. He has received just about every honour — musical or otherwise — that this country bestows, including 16 Juno Awards.
Can’t get enough of Gordon? Check out the stories and galleries put together in honour of his 70th birthday here.
