(WWJ) - Canada's legendary music icon Gordon Lightfoot, whose hits include “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” has died at age 84.
According to a statement on Lightfoot's official Facebook page, the Orillia, Ontario native died at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Monday.
His death was confirmed by his publicist, Victoria Lord. No cause was given.
Lightfoot rose to fame in the early '60s with many of his songs covered by artists including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand and Johnny Cash.
His biggest hit, "Sundown," landed at number one on the Hot 100 in 1974. Lightfoot's other hits include "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Early Morning Rain," WWJ's Kyle Kimball reported.
Lightfoot was nominated for four Grammy awards, including for "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" which is well-known among Michiganders.
Lightfoot wrote the haunting ballad after reading a Newsweek article about the drowning of 29 sailors when an iron-ore freight ship sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
Tributes came pouring in on social media shortly after his death was made public. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has lost "one of our greatest singer-songwriters."
"Gordon Lightfoot captured our country’s spirit in his music – and in doing so, he helped shape Canada’s soundscape," Trudeau wrote. "May his music continue to inspire future generations, and may his legacy live on forever."
Lightfoot, who lived in Toronto, is survived by his wife, Kim Hasse, six children — Fred, Ingrid, Miles, Meredith, Eric and Galen — and several grandchildren, according to Ms. Lord, his publicist.