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Leonard Cohen

Biography

Probably one of the most fascinating and enigmatic — otherwise probably the most successful — vocalist/songwriters from the past due ’60s, Leonard Cohen retained an viewers across six years of music-making, interrupted by various digressions into personal and creative exploration, which have got only put into the mystique surrounding him. Second and then Bob Dylan (as well as perhaps Paul Simon), he commanded the eye of critics and young musicians even more firmly than some other musical number through the ’60s who continuing to operate in the 21st hundred years, which is even more extraordinary an accomplishment for somebody who didn’t also desire to a musical profession until he was in his thirties. Cohen was created in 1934, annually before Elvis Presley, and his history — personal, sociable, and intellectual — couldn’t have already been even more not the same as those of the rock and roll or folk celebrities of any era. Though he understood some nation music and performed it a little like a son, he didn’t begin carrying out on a good semi-regular basis, significantly less documenting, until after he previously already written many books — so when a recognised novelist and poet, his literary achievements significantly exceeded those of Bob Dylan or many other people who one cares to say in music. He was created Leonard Norman Cohen right into a middle-class Jewish family members within the Montreal suburb of Westmount. His dad, a clothing product owner (who also kept a qualification in anatomist), passed away in 1943, when Cohen was nine yrs . old. It had been his mom who inspired Cohen being a article writer, specifically of poetry, during his youth. This participate in the intensifying intellectual environment where he grew up, which allowed him free of charge inquiry right into a huge selection of pursuits. His romantic relationship to music was even more tentative. He used your guitar at age group 13, initially in an effort to impress a woman, but was sufficient to play nation & western tracks at regional cafes, and he eventually formed an organization known as the Buckskin Young boys. At 17, he signed up for McGill College or university as an British major. By this time around, he was composing poetry in earnest and became area of the university’s small underground “bohemian” community. Cohen just earned average marks, but was sufficient like a article writer to generate the McNaughton Reward in creative composing by enough time he graduated in 1955. A 12 months later, the printer ink barely dried out on his level, he released his first publication of poetry, WHY DON’T WE Review Mythologies (1956), which got great evaluations but didn’t sell specifically well. He had been beyond this that rock and roll & move was targeted at. Bob Dylan, in comparison, was still Robert Zimmerman, still in his teenagers, and young plenty of to become devotee of Friend Holly once the second option surfaced. In 1961, Cohen released his second reserve of poetry, The Spice Container of Globe, which became a global achievement critically and commercially, and set up Cohen as a significant brand-new literary body. Meanwhile, he attempted to become listed on the family members business and spent time at Columbia College or university in NY, composing on a regular basis. Between the humble royalties from product sales of his second reserve, literary grants through the Canadian federal government, and a family group legacy, he could live easily and travel all over the world, partaking of a lot of what it experienced to provide — including some usage of LSD when it had been still legal — and eventually settling for a long period in Greece, around the isle of Hydra within the Aegean Ocean. He continued to create, issuing a set of novels, THE FAVOURITE Video game (1963) and Gorgeous Losers (1966), with a set of poetry collections, Blossoms for Hitler (1964) and Parasites of Heaven (1966). THE FAVOURITE Game was an extremely personal function about his early existence in Montreal, nonetheless it was Gorgeous Losers that demonstrated another breakthrough, making the type of evaluations that writers dare not expect. (Cohen discovered himself in comparison to Wayne Joyce within the pages from the Boston World, and over the years, the reserve has enjoyed product sales totaling well into six statistics.) It had been around this period that he also began composing music again, music being a organic expansion of his poetry. His comparative isolation on Hydra, in conjunction with his extremely mobile life style when he still left the isle, his own organic iconoclastic character, and the actual fact that he’d prevented being overcome (as well as touched too significantly) with the currents running right through well-known music because the ’40s, mixed to provide Cohen a distinctive voice being a composer. Though he do settle in Nashville for a short while in the middle-’60s, he didn’t create quite like other people in the united states music mecca or somewhere else. This may have already been an impediment, but also for the treatment of Judy Collins, a folksinger who got just shifted to leading rank of this field. Collins got a voice simply special enough to go her beyond the fairly emaciated rates of remaining well-known folk performers after Dylan shifted to electrical music; she was still obtaining heard, and not simply with the purists left out in Dylan’s wake. She added Cohen’s “Suzanne” to her repertoire and wear it her record In My Lifestyle, a record which was questionable enough in folk circles (due to her cover from the Beatles track that offered the LP its name) to draw in a whole lot of listeners and get yourself a wide airing. The LP’s “Suzanne” received a great deal of radio airplay, and Cohen was also displayed around the recording by “Gown Rehearsal Rag.” It had been Collins who persuaded Cohen to come back to carrying out for the very first time since his teenagers. He produced his debut through the summer time of 1967 in the Newport Folk Event, followed by a set of sold-out concerts in NEW YORK and an appearance performing his tracks and reciting his poems for the CBS network tv program Camera Three, within a present entitled “Girls and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen.” It had been around once that professional/vocalist Noel Harrison brought “Suzanne” onto the pop graphs using a documenting of his very own. One particular who noticed Cohen perform at Newport was John Hammond, Sr., the renowned manufacturer whose profession went back towards the ’30s and famous brands Billie Vacation, Benny Goodman, and Count number Basie, and expanded up through Bob Dylan and, eventually, to Bruce Springsteen. Hammond got Cohen agreed upon to Columbia Information and he developed The Tunes of Leonard Cohen, that was released right before Xmas of 1967. Maker John Simon could look for a restrained however appealing method of documenting Cohen’s voice, which can have been referred to as an appealingly delicate near-monotone; however that tone of voice was perfectly suitable for the material accessible, which, written in an exceedingly personal language, appeared drenched in downbeat pictures along with a soul of discovery being a way to unsettling revelation. Despite its extra creation and melancholy subject material — or, extremely possibly due to it — the record was an instantaneous hit with the standards from the folk music globe as well as the budding vocalist/songwriter community. Within an period in which an incredible number of listeners hung on another albums of Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel — whose very own latest record acquired ended having a minor-key rendition of “Silent Night time” arranged against a radio information account from the loss of life of Lenny Bruce — Cohen’s music quickly discovered a little but dedicated pursuing. College students from the thousands got it; in its second yr of launch, the record offered over 100,000 copies. The Tunes of Leonard Cohen was as close as Cohen ever surely got to mass target audience success. Amid all this unexpected musical activity, he barely neglected his additional composing — in 1968, he released a fresh volume, Chosen Poems: 1956-1968, including both previous and newly released work, and gained him the Governor General’s Award, Canada’s highest literary honor, which he proceeded to drop. By this time around, he was in fact almost even more an integral part of the rock and roll scene, residing for a while in New York’s Chelsea Resort, where his neighbours included Janis Joplin as well as other executing luminaries, a few of whom affected his tracks very straight. His next recording, Tracks from an area (1969), was seen as a a much greater nature of melancholy — actually the fairly spirited “A Couple of Lonesome Heroes” was steeped in such depressing sensibilities, and the main one music not compiled by Cohen, “The Partisan,” was a grim narrative about the reason why for and outcomes of level of resistance to tyranny that included lines like “She passed away with out a whisper” and included pictures of blowing wind blowing past graves. Joan Baez eventually documented the melody, and in her hands it had been a little more upbeat and inspiring towards the listener; Cohen’s rendition managed to get much more tough to see through the costs provided with the singer’s persona. Alternatively, “Seems SUCH A LONG TIME Ago, Nancy,” although as downbeat as other things here, do present Cohen in his most expressive and industrial voice, a nose but influencing and finely nuanced efficiency. In all, nevertheless, Tracks from an area was much less well-received commercially and critically. Bob Johnston’s restrained, nearly minimalist production managed to get less overtly interesting compared to the subtly industrial trappings of his debut, although recording do have a set of songs, “Bird around the Cable” and “THE STORYPLOT of Isaac,” that became hallmarks rivaling “Suzanne.” “THE STORYPLOT of Isaac,” a musical parable woven around biblical imagery about Vietnam, was one of the most savage and piercing tracks to emerge from the antiwar motion, and showed an even of class in its music and lyrics that place it in a complete separate world of structure; it received a straight better airing for the Live Tunes recording, in a overall performance documented in Berlin during 1972. Cohen might not have already been a broadly well-known performer or documenting designer, but his exclusive voice and audio, and the energy of his composing and its impact, helped him gain admittance to leading rank of rock and roll performers, an unusual position for the after that 35-year-old writer/composer. He made an appearance in the 1970 Isle of Wight event in Britain, a post-Woodstock gathering of celebrities and superstars, including past due looks by such soon-to-die-or-disband legends as Jimi Hendrix as well as the Doorways. Looking almost as uncomfortable as his fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell, Cohen strummed his classical guitar backed by way of a pair of feminine singers before an target audience of 600,000 (“It’s a big nation, but nonetheless weak”), comprising equivalent portions of followers, freaks, and belligerent gatecrashers, however the mere proven fact that he was there — sandwiched somewhere within Kilometers Davis and Emerson, Lake & Palmer — was a obvious statement from the position (otherwise the popular achievement) he’d attained. (Cohen’s functionality of “Suzanne” was among the features of Murray Lerner’s long-delayed 1996 documentary Message to Like: The Isle of Wight Celebration, and his complete established was reissued in ’09 2009, both on sound and video types.) Already, he previously carved out a distinctive place for himself in music, just as much writer as performer and saving artist, allowing his tracks develop and evolve across years — his distinctly noncommercial voice became section of his attract the viewers he found, providing him a distinctive corner from the music market comprising listeners descended in the same individuals who acquired embraced Bob Dylan’s early function before he’d turn into a mass-media sensation in 1964. In a way, Cohen embodied a trend vaguely much like what Dylan liked before his early-’70s tour using the Music group — people bought his albums from the tens and, sometimes, thousands, but appeared to hear him in exclusively personal conditions. He gained his market apparently one listener at the same time, by person to person a lot more than by the air, which, regardless (especially for the AM dial), was mainly friendly to addresses of Cohen’s tracks by additional performers. Cohen’s third record, Music of Like and Hate (1971), was one of is own most powerful functions, filled with piercing lyrics and music as poignantly influencing since it was minimalist in its strategy — arranger Paul Buckmaster’s focus on strings was peculiarly muted, as well as the children’s chorus that arrived on “Last Year’s Guy” was extra in its existence. Managing them was Cohen’s most reliable vocalizing up to now, brilliantly expressive around such acclaimed tracks as “Joan of Arc,” “Outfit Rehearsal Rag” (which have been documented by Judy Collins five years before), and “Famous Blue Raincoat.” The bleakness from the shade and subject material ensured that he’d never turn into a “pop” performer; also the beat-driven “Diamond jewelry within the Mine” — catchy children’s chorus accompaniment and everything, using a twangy guitar accompaniment on top of that — was as dark and venomous a track as Columbia Information released in 1971. And probably the most persuasive occasions — among an shame of riches — arrived on lyrics like “Right now the flames they adopted Joan of Arc/As she arrived riding with the dark/No moon to maintain her armor shiny/No man to obtain her through this evening….” Music of Appreciate and Hate, in conjunction with the earlier strike variations of “Suzanne,” etc., gained Cohen a big international cult pursuing. He also discovered himself popular in the world of industrial filmmaking, as movie director Robert Altman utilized his music in his 1971 feature film McCabe and Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, a revisionist period film established at the convert of the 19th hundred years which was savaged with the critics (and, by some accounts, sabotaged by its studio room) but continued to become among the director’s best-loved films. The following yr, he also released a fresh poetry collection, THE POWER of Slaves. As was his will not, Cohen spent years between albums, and in 1973 he appeared to consider share of himself being a performer by issuing Leonard Cohen: Live Music. Not a typical live record, it had been a compendium of shows from various locations across many years and centered on features of his result from 1969 onward. It showcased his composing just as much as his carrying out, but also offered a good accounts of his attract his most severe followers — those still uncertain of where they stood with regards to his music who could easily get at night epic-length “DO NOT Move Me By” understood for certain these were prepared to “sign up for” the internal group of his legion of devotees from then on, while some who only valued “Bird for the Wire” or “THE STORYPLOT of Isaac” could stay easily in an external ring. On the other hand, in 1973, his music became the foundation for the theatrical production known as Sisters of Mercy, conceived by Gene Lesser and loosely predicated on Cohen’s lifestyle, or at least a illusion edition of his lifestyle. A three-year lag ensued between Music of Appreciate and Hate and Cohen’s following record, & most critics and supporters simply assumed he’d strike a dried out spell, using the live recording covering the distance. He was occupied carrying out, however, in america and European countries in 1971 and 1972, and prolonged his looks into Israel through the 1973 Yom Kippur Battle. It was during this time period that he also started dealing with pianist and arranger John Lissauer, whom he involved as maker of his following record, New Epidermis for the Aged Wedding ceremony (1974). That record appeared to justify his enthusiasts’ continued beliefs in his function, delivering Cohen in a far more luxurious musical environment. He demonstrated capable of keeping his own inside a pop environment, actually if the tunes were mainly still depressing and bleak. The next season, Columbia Information released THE VERY BEST of Leonard Cohen, having a dozen of his best-known music — principally strikes within the hands of various other performers — from his prior four LPs (though it overlooked “Gown Rehearsal Rag”). It had been also through the middle-’70s that Cohen 1st crossed paths expertly with Jennifer Warnes, showing up on a single bill using the vocalist at numerous displays, which would result in some key collaborations within the ensuing 10 years. By this time around, he was a relatively less strange persona, having toured thoroughly and gotten significant publicity — among a great many other qualities, Cohen became known for his uncanny elegance to females, which appeared to go submit glove using the passionate subjects of all of his tunes. In 1977, Cohen reappeared using the ironically entitled Death of the Ladies’ Man, probably the most questionable recording of his profession, made by Phil Spector. The idea of pairing Spector — known variously being a Svengali-like existence to his feminine singers and performers and probably the most unrepentant (and frequently justified) over-producer in neuro-scientific pop music — with Cohen will need to have seemed like an excellent one to somebody sooner or later, but evidently Cohen himself experienced misgivings about lots of the producing songs that Spector by no means addressed, having combined the record totally by himself. The causing LP experienced the worst features of Cohen’s and Spector’s function, overly thick and self-consciously imposing in its audio, and practically bathing the listener in Cohen’s depressive persona, but displaying his limited vocal capabilities to disadvantage, due to Spector’s usage of “scrape” (i.e. guideline) vocals and his unwillingness allowing the designer to redo a few of his weaker occasions on those will take. For the very first (in support of) amount of time in Cohen’s profession, his near-monotone delivery of the period wasn’t a confident feature. Cohen’s unhappiness using the record was well known among followers, who mainly bought it with this caveat at heart, so that it didn’t damage his reputation. Annually after its launch, Cohen also released a fresh literary collection utilizing the somewhat different title Loss of life of the Lady’s Guy. Cohen’s next record, Recent Tracks (1979), came back him towards the extra configurations of his early-’70s function and demonstrated his performing for some of its greatest advantage. Dealing with veteran maker Henry Lewy (most widely known for his use Joni Mitchell), the recording showed Cohen’s performing as appealing and expressive in its noiseless way, and tracks such as for example “The Guests” seeming downright fairly. He still published about existence and like, and especially associations, in stark conditions, but he appeared to be getting into a pop setting on numbers such as for example “Humbled in Like.” Frank Sinatra hardly ever needed to go over his make at Cohen (a minimum of, being a vocalist), but he do appear to be attempting for the slicker pop audio at occasions on his record. After that arrived 1984, and two essential fresh functions in Cohen’s result — the poetic/spiritual volume The Publication of Mercy as well as the record Several Positions (1984). The last mentioned, documented with Jennifer Warnes, is certainly arguably probably the most available recording of his whole profession up compared to that period — Cohen’s tone of voice, right now a peculiarly expressive baritone device, found a lovely pairing with Warnes, as well as the tracks were as good as ever, steeped in spirituality and sexuality, with “Dance Me to the finish of Like” a killer opener: a wry, doom-laden however impassioned pop-style ballad that’s impossible to neglect. Those attempts overlapped with some endeavors with the composer/vocalist into various other innovative realms, including an award-winning brief film that he composed, directed, and have scored, entitled I Am a Resort, as well as the rating for the 1985 conceptual film Evening Magic, which gained a Juno Prize in Canada for Greatest Movie Score. Unfortunately, Various Positions proceeded to go relatively undetected, and was accompanied by another prolonged sabbatical from documenting, which finished with I’m Your Guy (1988). But during his hiatus, Warnes got released her recording of Cohen-authored materials, entitled Famous Blue Raincoat, which got sold very well and released Cohen to a fresh era of listeners. Then when I’m Your Guy do appear, using its digital creation (albeit still rather extra) and music that added laughter (albeit dark laughter) to his mixture of pessimistic and poetic conceits, the effect was his best-selling record in greater than a 10 years. The effect, in 1991, was the launch of I’m Your Lover: The Tunes of Leonard Cohen, a Compact disc of recordings of his tunes by famous brands R.E.M., the Pixies, Nick Cave & the Poor Seed products, and John Cale, which place Cohen being a songwriter pressing age group 60 back on middle stage for the ’90s. He increased to the event, releasing THE NEAR FUTURE, an recording that dwelt on the countless risks facing mankind within the arriving years and years, a season later. Not really the stuff of pop graphs or MTV large rotation, it enticed Cohen’s normal coterie of enthusiasts, and more than enough press interest in addition to sufficient product sales, to justify the discharge in 1994 of his second concert recording, Cohen Live, produced from his two latest tours. A 12 months later arrived another tribute record, Tower of Tune, featuring Cohen’s music as interpreted by Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, et al. Amid all this brand-new activity encircling his composing and compositions, Cohen embarked on a fresh stage of his existence. Religious concerns had been never too much from his considering and work, even though he was creating a name for himself composing tunes about like, and he previously focused a lot more on this part of existence since Numerous Positions. He spent period in the Mt. Baldy Zen Middle, a Buddhist retreat in California, and finally became a full-time citizen, along with a Buddhist monk in the past due ’90s. When he re-emerged in 1999, Cohen acquired many a large number of brand-new compositions at hand, music and poems as well. His fresh collaborations had been with vocalist/songwriter/musician Sharon Robinson, who also finished up generating the producing recording, Ten New Tunes (2001) — there also surfaced during this time period a discharge known as Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979, made up of live recordings from his tour 22 years previous. In 2004, the entire year he transformed 70, Cohen released one of the most questionable albums of his profession, Dear Heather. It exposed his tone of voice anew, with this stage of his profession, like a deep baritone even more limited in range than on any earlier documenting, nonetheless it overcame this switch in vocal timbre by facing it head-on, just like Cohen experienced finished with his performing throughout his profession. It also included several tracks that Cohen had written music however, not lyrics, a made a decision modification of speed for a guy who’d began being a poet. And it had been as personal an archive as Cohen experienced ever released. His go back to documenting was one of the most strengths of Cohen’s resumption of his music actions. On another notice, in 2005, he submitted match against his longtime business supervisor and his economic advisor on the alleged fraud greater than five million dollars, a minimum of a few of which occurred during his years on the Buddhist retreat. Five years after he surfaced being a open public literary physique and a performer, Cohen continued to be probably one of the most persuasive and enigmatic musical numbers of his period, and one of the extremely handful of that period who commanded just as much respect and interest, and most likely as huge an target audience, in the 21st hundred years as he do within the ’60s. Just as much as any survivor of this 10 years, Cohen kept onto his first market and noticed it develop across generations, commensurate with a timeless and ageless body of music. In 2006, his long lasting influence appeared to be recognized in Lions Gate Movies’ launch of Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Guy, movie director Lian Lunson’s concert/family portrait of Cohen’s function and profession. A functionality set, Reside in London, premiered in ’09 2009. This year 2010, the mixed video and audio bundle Tunes from the street was released, documenting his 2008 globe tour (that actually lasted until past due 2010), revisiting music from each section of his profession. The tour protected 84 times and offered over 700,000 seat tickets world-wide. Cohen didn’t rest lengthy, nevertheless: in early 2011 he begun to build what would become Aged Ideas, his initial record of brand-new materials in seven years. The classes occurred with suppliers Ed Sanders (renowned poet and innovator from the Fugs), Patrick Leonard, Cohen’s saxophonist Dino Soldo, and his partner, vocalist and songwriter Anjani Thomas. Aged Ideas included ten fresh tunes coping with spirituality, mortality, sexuality, reduction, and acceptance, identical in sound and structure to Dear Heather. The paths “Lullaby” and “Darkness” had been staples of the globe tour, as the lower “Present Me the area” was pre-released in past due 2011. Old Suggestions was released by the end of January 2012. It had been a tremendous achievement, debuting in the Best Five within the U.S. and U.K., in addition to reaching number 1 in Canada. Cohen’s achievement in European countries was even more impressive; Old Concepts reached number 1 in nearly ten countries. After just one more globe tour that brought him general accolades, Cohen, uncharacteristically, came back quickly towards the studio room with maker (and co-writer) Patrick Leonard, growing with nine fresh tunes, at least among which — “Given birth to in Stores” — experienced roots that dated back again 40 years. Popular Complications premiered in Sept of 2014 to reviews that are positive and chart achievement. (Exactly like its forerunner, it hit number 1 across Europe in addition to Canada.) Cohen continuing to tour internationally with amazing vigor, and in Dec 2014 he released Reside in Dublin, his third live recording since time for the street. The record had been documented in Sept 2013, throughout a concert at Dublin’s O2 World, along with a high-definition video discharge made an appearance in tandem using the audio release. Another concert record, Can’t Neglect: A Souvenir from the Grand Tour, made an appearance in-may 2015, using the record attracted from live will take in addition to pre-show rehearsals at soundchecks. Cohen proceeded to go back to focus on brand-new materials although he was in declining wellness. On Sept 21, 2016, his 82nd birthday, “You WANT TO BUY Darker,” the eerie, mortality-themed name track of a fresh studio room recording, made an appearance on the web. The full-length, made by his boy Adam, was released on Oct 21. The record was his goodbye; Cohen passed on significantly less than three weeks later on, on November 7, 2016.

Quick Facts


Full Name Leonard Cohen
Died November 7, 2016, Los Angeles, California, United States
Height 1.74 m
Profession Singer-songwriter, Poet, Author, Painter, Screenwriter, Voice Actor, Novelist, Film Score Composer
Education Columbia University, Westmount High School, McGill University
Nationality Canadian
Children Adam Cohen, Lorca Cohen
Parents Nathan Cohen, Marsha Klonitsky
Siblings Esther Cohen
Awards Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, Juno Award for Album of the Year, Juno Award for Artist of the Year, Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year, Juno Award for Video of the Year, Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama, Juno Award for Best Male Artist, Porin Award for Best Foreign Video Programme, Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Song, Danish Grammy Award for Foreign Male Singer of the Year
Music Songs Hallelujah, Suzanne, Dance Me to the End of Love, So Long, Marianne, Everybody Knows, You Want It Darker, Famous Blue Raincoat, First We Take Manhattan, Hey, That's no Way to Say Goodbye, Aleluya, I'm Your Man, The Stranger Song, Chelsea Hotel #2, A Thousand Kisses Deep, Take This Waltz, In My Secret Life, The Partisan, Joan of Arc, If It Be Your Will, Master Song, Winter Lady, Waiting for the Miracle, Avalanche, One of Us Cannot Be Wrong, Lover Lover Lover, Who By Fire, Traveling Light, Sisters of Mercy, Stories of the Street, Story of Isaac, Dress Rehearsal Rag, Tower of Song
Albums The Future, Popular Problems, Live in London, Old Ideas, Songs of Leonard Cohen, Songs of Love and Hate, Various Positions, Songs from a Room, Ten New Songs, Songs from the Road, Recent Songs, Death of a Ladies' Man, I'm Your Man, Dear Heather, Live Songs, Cohen Live, New Skin for the Old Ceremony, Live in Dublin, You Want It Darker, Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979, Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, The Best of Leonard Cohen, The Essential Leonard Cohen, More Best of Leonard Cohen, Opus Collection, The Complete Studio Albums Collection, So Long, Marianne, Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour, Night Magic, Toronto '88 Live & Remastered, BBC Broadcasts 1968 (Doxy Collection, Remastered, Live), The Spirit of Radio (Live), Once More for Marianne, The End of Love (Live), Angels at My Shoulder, The Future (Live), Back In The Motherland (The 1988 Toronto Broadcast), All The Best (Reclam Musik Edition), From the Shadows (Live), Legendary FM Broadcasts - Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada 9th November 1988, Legendary FM Broadcasts - Kongresshaus, Zurich 21st May 1993
Nominations Juno Fan Choice Award, Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year, Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, Juno Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award, Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist, Juno Award for Entertainer of the Year, Polaris Music Prize, Echo Award for Best International Rock/Pop Male Artist
Movies Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire, I Am a Hotel, Fata Morgana, The Ernie Game, Night Magic, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Histoire(s) du cinéma, Beware of a Holy Whore, Poen, Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, Grandeur et décadence d'un petit commerce de cinéma, Yesno, Who's He Anyway, Angel, Operation X-70
TV Shows All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music, Sunday


  • Facts
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  • Quotes
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#Fact
1 Marianne Ihlen for whom 'So Long, Marianne' was written, died on July 29, 2016 in Oslo.
2 Daughter Lorca Cohen mothered a daughter, Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen (b. 2 February 2011 in Los Angeles), with singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
3 Los Angeles, California [June 2007]
4 He was 32 years old when he released his first album.
5 Judy Collins is generally credited with discovering Cohen, having been the very first artist to record his "Suzanne" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag" for her album "In My Life" (1966).
6 Is of Polish and Lithuanian Jewish Descent. His family claim to be descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses.
7 During the 1990s, he became a monk in California in a quest for spirituality.
8 He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on April 19, 1991 and the C.C. (Companion of the Order of Canada) on October 10, 2002 for his services to music.
9 Has two children with his ex-girlfriend, Suzanne Elrod. Son, Adam Cohen, born 1972; and daughter, Lorca Cohen, born 1974.
10 Is in the same branch Of Buddhism as Peter Matthiessen, Michael O'Keefe, Gary Snyder, Peter Coyote, Bernie Glassman, Reb Anderson, Philip Whalen, Richard Baker, Pat O'Hara (Enkyo O'Hara), Soen Roshi and John Daido Loori.
11 He is referenced in the work of several other music artists. He is mentioned by name in the Nirvana song "Pennyroyal Tea" (lead singer Kurt Cobain was a great fan of his), the Marillion song "Montreal" and the Mercury Rev song "A Drop In Time".
12 His "Greatest Hits" collection was voted the most depressing album ever, the vote made by a British magazine.
13 His Zen name is Jikan, which means "Silent One".
14 The student of Zen Master, Sasaki Roshi.
15 Spent part of the late 1990s living in a Buddhist monastery in California.
16 Was engaged to Rebecca De Mornay.
17 Son Adam Cohen released self-titled debut album (1998).
18 Singer.


Soundtrack

Soundtrack

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Revenge 2012 TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Voice UK 2012 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The First Time 2012/I performer: "If It Be Your Will" / writer: "If It Be Your Will"
Banda sonora TV Series writer - 2 episodes, 2008 - 2012 performer - 1 episode, 2012
A los hombres que amé 2011 TV Movie music: "Take This Waltz" / performer: "Take This Waltz"
Cine español: Las claves del éxito 2011 TV Movie documentary writer: "Manhattan"
Homeland TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2011 writer - 1 episode, 2011
Blue Bloods 2011 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein? 2011 TV Movie writer: "Halleluja" - uncredited
Rampart 2011 performer: "Famous Blue Raincoat" / writer: "Famous Blue Raincoat"
Take This Waltz 2011 performer: "Take This Waltz" / writer: "Closing Time", "Take This Waltz"
So You Think You Can Dance Canada 2011 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Prozhektorperiskhilton 2011 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Fliegende Fische müssen ins Meer 2011 performer: "Everybody Knows", "Halleluja" / writer: "Everybody Knows", "Halleluja"
Sluzhebnyy roman. Nashe vremya 2011 writer: "HALLELUJA"
The Art of Getting By 2011 performer: "Winter Lady" / writer: "Winter Lady"
Show Jana Krause 2010 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Putt Putt Syndrome 2010 writer: "Hallelujah"
X Factor 2010 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Life as We Know It 2010 writer: "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"
Criminal Minds TV Series writer - 3 episodes, 2006 - 2010 performer - 2 episodes, 2010
So You Think You Can Dance 2010 TV Series writer - 2 episodes
American Idol 2010 TV Series writer - 2 episodes
Parenthood 2010 TV Series performer - 1 episode
Barney's Version 2010 performer: "Dance Me to the End of Love", "I'm Your Man" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love", "I'm Your Man"
De wereld draait door 2010 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Live from Studio Five 2009-2010 TV Series writer - 6 episodes
Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief 2010 TV Movie documentary writer: "Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 2009 Documentary performer: "Bird On The Wire", "So Long, Marianne", "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "The Stranger Song", "Tonight Will Be Fine", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "Diamonds In The Mine", "Suzanne", "Sing Another Song Boys", "The Partisan", "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" / writer: "Bird On The Wire", "So Long, Marianne", "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "The Stranger Song", "Tonight Will Be Fine", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "Diamonds In The Mine", "Suzanne",
Street Music 2008-2009 TV Series writer - 2 episodes
Ànima TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2009 writer - 1 episode, 2009
Rise Up: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s 2009 TV Movie documentary performer: "First We Take Manhattan" / writer: "First We Take Manhattan"
The Choir: Unsung Town TV Mini-Series lyrics - 1 episode, 2009 music - 1 episode, 2009
Bustin' Down the Door 2009 Documentary performer: "Who By Fire" / writer: "Who By Fire"
Passenger Side 2009 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Lie to Me 2009 TV Series 1 episode
Pirate Radio 2009 performer: "So Long Marianne" 1967 / writer: "So Long Marianne" 1967
Leonard Cohen: Live in London 2009 Video arranger: "Whither Thou Goest" / lyrics: "Recitation" / performer: "Dance Me To The End Of Love", "The Future", "Ain't No Cure For Love", "Bird On The Wire", "Everybody Knows", "In My Secret Life", "Who By Fire", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "Anthem", "Tower Of Song", "Suzanne", "The Gypsy's Wife", "Boogie Street", "Hallelujah", "Democracy", "I'm Your Man", "Recitation", "Take This Waltz", "So Long, Marianne", "First We Take Manhattan", "Sisters Of Mercy", "Closing Time", "I Tried
Watchmen 2009 performer: "Hallelujah", "First We Take Manhattan" / writer: "Hallelujah", "First We Take Manhattan"
Dancing on Ice 2009 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Amar a morir 2009 writer: "Hallelujah"
Being Erica 2009 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Chris Botti in Boston 2009 TV Movie writer: "Hallelujah"
Katherine Jenkins: A Girl from Neath 2008 TV Movie documentary writer: "Hallelujah" - uncredited
Rabbit Fall TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2008 writer - 1 episode, 2008
Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows 2008 TV Movie performer: "Suzanne", "Hallelujah", "Closing Time" / writer: "Suzanne", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "Sisters Of Mercy", "Who By Fire", "Bird On A Wire", "Everybody Knows", "Hallelujah", "Memories", "Closing Time"
Los grandes éxitos... y mucho más 2008 Video music: "Pequeño vals vienés"
Between Heaven and Hell 2008 performer: "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Everybody Knows"
The Tender Hook 2008 writer: "I'm Your Man"
Cure for Love 2008 Documentary writer: "Ain't No Cure for Love"
One Tree Hill 2008 TV Series writer - 1 episode
It Takes Two 2008 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Last Deadly Mission 2008 performer: "Avalanche" - as Léonard Cohen / writer: "Avalanche" - as Léonard Cohen
Adagio sostenuto 2008 "The great event"
Elegy 2008/I writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Sugar 2008/I writer: "Hallelujah"
The Escapist 2008 performer: "The Partisan"
Ugly Betty 2007 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Qwerty 2007 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Feast of Love 2007 writer: "Hallelujah"
Unfinished Sky 2007 writer: "Anthem"
ER 2007 TV Series writer - 1 episode
CSI: NY 2007 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Lucky You 2007 writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters 2007 Documentary performer: "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Everybody Knows"
Idool 2007 2007 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Banished 2007 performer: "WAITING FOR THE MIRACLE", "SISTERS OF MERCY" / writer: "WAITING FOR THE MIRACLE", "SISTERS OF MERCY"
Veronica Mars TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2007 writer - 1 episode, 2007
Australian Idol 2006 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Numb3rs 2006 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Backwoods 2006 performer: "There is a war", "Lover, lover, lover" / writer: "There is a war", "Lover, lover, lover"
Deliver Us from Evil 2006 Documentary writer: "Hallelujah"
Salvador (Puig Antich) 2006 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Cold Case 2006 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Failure to Launch 2006 writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Words to Music: The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame 2006 2006 TV Movie writer: "Hallelujah", "Bird on a Wire", "Everybody Knows"
Idol - Jakten på en superstjerne 2004-2006 TV Series writer - 3 episodes
Falcon Beach 2006 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Four Corners of Suburbia 2005 performer: "Sisters of Mercy" / writer: "Sisters of Mercy"
Lord of War 2005 writer: "Hallelujah" 1984
House M.D. 2005 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man 2005 Documentary performer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Tower of Song", "I'm Your Man" / writer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "I'm Your Man", "A Thousand Kisses Deep", "Everybody Knows", "The Traitor", "Winter Lady", "Tonight Will Be Fine", "If It Be Your Will", "Sisters of Mercy", "Chelsea Hotel No. 2", "Suzanne", "I Can't Forget", "Anthem", "Hallelujah", "Tower of Song", "Tacoma Trailer"
Canadian Idol 2003-2005 TV Series writer - 6 episodes
Barfuss 2005 lyrics: "Halleluja" / music: "Halleluja"
Crossing Jordan TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2005 writer - 1 episode, 2002
Duck 2005 performer: "Love Itself", "Anthem" / writer: "Love Itself", "Anthem"
Vinterkyss 2005 music: "Hallelujah"
Lobos 2005 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Le dernier trappeur 2004 Documentary performer: "By the rivers dark" / writer: "By the rivers dark"
På danske læber live 2004 Video documentary lyrics: "Halleluja Hallelujah", "Alle ved besked Everybody Knows", "Minder Memories", "For skønheds skyld Came So Far For Beauty", "Miraklet Waiting For The Miracle", "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "Fugl på en snor Bird On A Wire", "Ved den mørke flod By The Rivers Dark", "Alexandra tabt Alexandra Leaving", "Hvem i ilden Who By Fire", "Jeg er din mand I'm Your Man", "Lukketid Closing Time" / music: "Tower of Song", "Halleluja Hallelujah", "Alle ved besked Everybody Knows"
LAX 2004 TV Series writer - 1 episode
El Lobo 2004 performer: "Song of the French Partisan La complainte du partisan"
Mosca y Smith en el Once 2004 TV Mini-Series performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Saint Ralph 2004 writer: "Hallelujah"
Land of Plenty 2004 performer: "The Land Of Plenty", "The Letters" / writer: "The Land Of Plenty", "The Letters"
A Home at the End of the World 2004 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
The Edukators 2004 writer: "Hallelujah"
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession 2004 TV Movie documentary performer: "The Stranger Song", "Winter Lady", "Sisters of Mercy" / writer: "The Stranger Song", "Winter Lady", "Sisters of Mercy"
The O.C. 2003-2004 TV Series writer - 2 episodes
The L Word TV Series performer - 2 episodes, 2004 writer - 1 episode, 2004
SexTV 1999-2004 TV Series documentary performer - 7 episodes
Nathalie... 2003 performer: "Boogie Street" / writer: "Boogie Street"
Mortuary Blues 2003 Short performer: "You Know Who I Am", "Seem So Long Ago Nancy", "Bird on a Wire" / writer: "You Know Who I Am", "Seem So Long Ago Nancy", "Bird on a Wire"
Without a Trace 2003 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Gin Game 2003 TV Movie writer: "Take This Waltz"
The Life of David Gale 2003 performer: "The Future" 1992 / writer: "The Future" 1992
Consoling Pamela Monroe 2003 Short writer: "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
Jos sais kerran 2002 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Fastlane TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2002 writer - 1 episode, 2002
The Good Thief 2002/I performer: "A Thousand Kisses Deep" / writer: "A Thousand Kisses Deep"
Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You 2002 TV Movie documentary writer: "Hallelujah"
The West Wing 2002 TV Series writer - 1 episode
L'imbalsamatore 2002 performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Yellowknife 2002 performer: "Frightened of..."
Secretary 2002 performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Scrubs 2001 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Hombres felices 2001 performer: "Take This Waltz" / writer: "Take This Waltz"
Shrek 2001 writer: "Hallelujah" 1985
Jeff Buckley: Goodbye and Hello 2000 TV Movie documentary writer: "Hallelujah" live
Dancing at the Blue Iguana 2000 performer: "Dance Me to the End of love" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of love"
I cento passi 2000 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Jeff Buckley: Live in Chicago 2000 Video documentary writer: "Hallelujah"
Wonder Boys 2000 "Waiting For the Miracle" / performer: "Waiting For the Miracle"
Con la primera al 2000 1999 TV Movie music: "Pequeño vals vienés"
Jeff Buckley: Remembered 1999 TV Movie documentary writer: "Hallelujah" live
Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation 1999 Documentary performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Lorquiana 1998 TV Special music: "Pequeño vals vienés"
Así se hizo 'Lorquiana' 1998 TV Short music: "Pequeño vals vienés"
Kiss the Sky 1998 performer: "Tower of Song", "The Future", "Waiting for the Miracle", "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Take this Longing", "Teachers", "Ain't No Cure for Love" / writer: "Tower of Song", "The Future", "Waiting for the Miracle", "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Take this Longing", "Teachers", "Ain't No Cure for Love"
Gala de la hispanidad 1998 1998 TV Special music: "Pequeño vals vienés"
Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City TV Mini-Series performer - 1 episode, 1998 writer - 1 episode, 1998
Heaven Before I Die 1997 performer: "Dance Me To The End Of Love" / writer: "Dance Me To The End Of Love"
Leonard Cohen: Spring 1996 1997 Documentary performer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Democracy", "Teachers", "A Thousand Kisses Deep", "The Future", "Suzanne", "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Closing Time" / writer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Democracy", "Teachers", "A Thousand Kisses Deep", "The Future", "Suzanne", "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Closing Time", "Never Any Good"
Platinum 1997 TV Movie performer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Democracy" / writer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Democracy"
Mr. Jealousy 1997 performer: "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" / writer: "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
El tiempo de la felicidad 1997 performer: "Suzanne", "Bird on the Wire" / writer: "Suzanne", "Bird on the Wire"
True Love and Chaos 1997 performer: "Bird on the Wire" / writer: "So Long Marianne", "One of Us Cannot be Wrong", "Bird on the Wire"
Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1997 Documentary performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Nebo ispod Osijeka 1996 Documentary performer: "Dance Me to the End of Love" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Squish Story 1996 Documentary performer: "So Long Marianne" / writer: "So Long Marianne"
Love, etc. 1996 music: "take this waltz" - as l. cohen / performer: "take this waltz" - as léonard cohen
I'm Your Man 1996 Short performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Portraits chinois 1996 writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Tian ya hai jiao 1996 performer: "Dance Me to the End of Love" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Basquiat 1996 writer: "Hallelujah"
River Street 1996 writer: "Hallelujah"
A Perfect Candidate 1996 Documentary performer: "Democracy" / writer: "Democracy", "Hallelujah"
Breaking the Waves 1996 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
En el aire 1995 writer: "Bird on a Wire"
Homicide: Life on the Street TV Series performer - 1 episode, 1995 writer - 1 episode, 1995
Strange Days 1995 writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Tag ditt liv 1995 lyrics: "Famous Blue Raincoat" / music: "Famous Blue Raincoat" / performer: "Famous Blue Raincoat" / writer: "Famous Blue Raincoat"
When Night Is Falling 1995 writer: "HALLELUJAH"
Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge... TV Series performer - 1 episode, 1994 writer - 1 episode, 1994
Natural Born Killers 1994 performer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Anthem", "The Future" / writer: "Waiting for the Miracle", "Anthem", "The Future"
Le péril jeune 1994 performer: "Suzanne" - uncredited / writer: "Suzanne" - uncredited
L'eau froide 1994 performer: "Avalanche" / writer: "Avalanche"
Exotica 1994 performer: "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Everybody Knows"
Caro diario 1993 performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man" - as L. Cohen
Sexual Healing 1993 Short performer: "Who By Fire" / writer: "Who By Fire"
Stuff 1993 TV Short writer: "Hallelujah"
The Scarecrow and The Rainbow Kid 1993 Short performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Road to Alice 1992 Short writer: "Suzanne"
Pump Up the Volume 1990 arranger: "Everybody Knows" / performer: "Everybody Knows", "If It Be Your Will" / writer: "Everybody Knows", "If It Be Your Will"
Bird on a Wire 1990 writer: "Bird On A Wire"
Porttikielto taivaaseen 1990 writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
Love at Large 1990 performer: "Ain't No Cure For Love" / writer: "Ain't No Cure For Love"
Les matins infidèles 1988 writer: "Suzanne"
Die Katze 1988 writer: "First We Take Manhattan"
Série noire TV Series performer - 1 episode, 1986 writer - 1 episode, 1986
Sword of Honour 1986 TV Mini-Series writer - 2 episodes
De familie Knots TV Series performer - 1 episode, 1984 writer - 1 episode, 1984
The Song of Leonard Cohen 1980 Documentary performer: "Bird on a Wire", "Suzanne", "So Long, Marianne", "The Gypsy's Wife", "Who By Fire", "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" / writer: "Bird on a Wire", "Suzanne", "So Long, Marianne", "The Gypsy's Wife", "Who By Fire", "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
A Wedding 1978 writer: "Bird on a Wire" 1968
Fear of Fear 1975 TV Movie performer: "Lover, Lover, Lover", "Why Don't You Try" / writer: "Lover, Lover, Lover", "Why Don't You Try"
Fox and His Friends 1975 performer: "Bird On A Wire" / writer: "Bird On A Wire"
Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht 1975 TV Movie performer: "Bird on a Wire" / writer: "Bird on a Wire"
The Second Coming of Suzanne 1974 performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
The World of Miss World 1974 Documentary performer: "Who by Fire"
Beware of a Holy Whore 1971 performer: "Suzanne", "So Long Marianne", "Winter Lady", "Sisters of Mercy", "Teachers" / writer: "Suzanne", "So Long Marianne", "Winter Lady", "Sisters of Mercy", "Teachers"
McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971 performer: "The Stranger Song", "Sisters of Mercy", "Winter Lady" / writer: "The Stranger Song", "Sisters of Mercy", "Winter Lady"
Fata Morgana 1971 Documentary performer: "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye", "Suzanne", "So Long Marianne" / writer: "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye", "Suzanne", "So Long Marianne"
Mad Dogs & Englishmen 1971 Documentary writer: "Bird on a Wire"
Dynamite Chicken 1971 performer: "What I'm Doing Here" / writer: "What I'm Doing Here"
The Thorn 1971 "Suzanne"
Carry It On 1970 Documentary performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Frost on Sunday 1970 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Here's Peggy Fleming 1968 TV Special writer: "Suzanne"
The Ernie Game 1967 "Stranger"
Strictly Come Dancing 2016 TV Series writer - 2 episodes
Lorraine 2016 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards 2016 TV Special writer: "Hallelujah"
Sing 2016 writer: "Hallelujah"
Justiça 2016 TV Mini-Series writer - 1 episode
War Dogs 2016 performer: "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Everybody Knows"
Pete's Dragon 2016 performer: "So Long, Marianne" / writer: "So Long, Marianne"
The Infiltrator 2016 performer: "Everybody Knows"
The Americans 2016 TV Series performer - 1 episode
Friends Forever 2016/II Short writer: "Hallelujah"
National Parks Adventure 2016 Documentary short writer: "Hallelujah"
The Fundamentals of Caring 2016 performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
Médecin de campagne 2016 "Hallelujah"
Hunt for the Wilderpeople 2016 performer: "Song of the French Partisan"
The Walk 2015/II writer: "Suzanne"
La novia 2015 writer: "Pequeño vals vienés"
The Program 2015/II performer: "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Everybody Knows"
True Detective TV Series 1 episode, 2015 performer - 7 episodes, 2015 writer - 7 episodes, 2015
A Current Affair 2015 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Mia madre 2015 performer: "Famous Blue Raincoat" / writer: "Famous Blue Raincoat"
1992 TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2015 writer - 1 episode, 2015
Black Sails 2015 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The Official Top 50 Best-Selling Singles of the 90s and 00s 2015 TV Movie writer: "Hallelujah"
La Marató 2014 2014 TV Movie writer: "Aleluia"
Carols by Kindlelight 2014 TV Movie writer: "Hallelujah" - uncredited
Divendres 2014 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Ritmes del cor 2014 TV Movie documentary writer: "Aleluia"
Australian Story 2014 TV Series documentary writer - 1 episode
Transparent TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2014 writer - 1 episode, 2014
Rosewater 2014 performer: "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Everybody Knows" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love", "Everybody Knows"
Wild 2014/I performer: "Suzanne" / writer: "Suzanne"
Altman 2014 Documentary writer: "Sisters of Mercy"
Tammy 2014 writer: "Suzanne"
Via llibre 2014 TV Series 1 episode
Life Itself 2014 Documentary performer: "I'm Your Man" / writer: "I'm Your Man"
EastEnders 2014 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Ismael 2013 performer: "Dance Me to the End of Love" / writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
The League 2013 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Sons of Anarchy TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2013 writer - 1 episode, 2010
The Voice of the Philippines 2013 TV Series writer - 1 episode
The X Factor 2008-2013 TV Series writer - 4 episodes
Last Love 2013 lyrics: "Anthem"
Gent de paraula TV Series performer - 5 episodes, 2010 - 2013 writer - 4 episodes, 2010 - 2013 music - 1 episode, 2011
Danville 2nd Ward Young Men 2013 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Suzanne 2013/I writer: "Suzanne"
The Congress 2013 writer: "If It Be Your Will"
Dancing with the Stars 2009-2013 TV Series writer - 4 episodes
The Voice Israel 2013 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Who by Fire 2013 Video short writer: "Who By Fire"
Dark Tourist 2012 writer: "Suzanne"
The Voice 2012 TV Series writer - 1 episode
Duets 2012 TV Series writer - 1 episode
XV edición de los Premios Max de las artes escénicas 2012 TV Special writer: "Hallellujah"

Composer

Composer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Hallelujah 2016 Short
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man 2005 Documentary music composed by
Kindred: The Embraced 1996 TV Series
Both Sides of the Wire 1993 Documentary
Night Magic 1985
Other Tongues 1984
Who's He Anyway 1983 Short
Satellite 1968
Angel 1967 Short

Actor

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Yesno 2010 Short voice
Miami Vice 1986 TV Series Francois Zolan
I Am a Hotel 1983 TV Short The Resident (as L.C.)
Poen 1967 Short Narrator (voice)
The Ernie Game 1967 Singer
Angel 1967 Short Man (uncredited)

Writer

Writer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Portals 2011 Short written by
The Favourite Game 2003 novel
United States of Poetry 1995 TV Mini-Series documentary poem
Night Magic 1985
Poets on Film No. 1 1977 Short poem "A Kite Is a Victim"
Poen 1967 Short words by: from "Beautiful Losers"

Music Department

Music Department

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 2009 Documentary musician: acoustic guitar
Leonard Cohen: Live in London 2009 Video musician: guitar and keyboard
Abar Aranye 2003 lyricist
Hochzeit auf Raten 2002 TV Movie composer: song "Suzanne"
McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971 composer: songs

Art Department

Art Department

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Leonard Cohen: Live in London 2009 Video artist: set artwork
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man 2005 Documentary artwork

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Venus Blue 1998 Short poetry excerpts

Thanks

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Twenty Years of Boredom 2013 Short special thanks
Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You: A Concert for Kate McGarrigle 2012 Documentary special thanks
A Thousand Kisses Deep 2011 special thanks
Rampart 2011 special thanks
8 Ball 2008 Short dedicatee
Deliver Us from Evil 2006 Documentary special thanks
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man 2005 Documentary special thanks
Land of Plenty 2004 special thanks
Levity 2003 thanks
Looking for Leonard 2002 thanks
All You Need Is Love 1977 TV Series documentary the producers gratefully acknowledge - 1 episode

Self

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
A Moving Picture 1989 TV Movie Himself
Omnibus 1988 TV Series documentary Himself
Sábado noche 1988 TV Series Himself - Musical Guest
Na siehste 1988 TV Series documentary Himself - Musician
Kippevel 1988 TV Series Himself
X-Large 1987 TV Series documentary Himself
Personenbeschreibung 1985 TV Series documentary Himself
The Song of Leonard Cohen 1980 Documentary Himself
Numéro 1 1979 TV Series Himself
Arena besetzt 1977 Documentary Himself (uncredited)
All You Need Is Love 1977 TV Series documentary Himself
Bird on a Wire 1974 Documentary Himself
Guitare au poing 1973 Documentary Himself
Camera Three 1968 TV Series Himself
Once More with Felix 1968 TV Series Himself
This Hour Has Seven Days 1966 TV Series Himself
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen 1965 Documentary Himself
Omega 2016 Documentary
Al Purdy Was Here 2015 Documentary Himself (voice)
Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire 2010 Documentary Himself
Ànima 2009 TV Series Himself
Leonard Cohen: Live in London 2009 Video Himself
Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows 2008 TV Movie Himself
Leonard Cohen: Under Review 1978-2006 2008 Video documentary Himself
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2008 TV Special Himself
Words to Music: The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame 2006 2006 TV Movie Himself
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man 2005 Documentary Himself
Four Strong Winds 2003 TV Series Himself
Viva 2001 TV Series Himself - Singer
Leonard Cohen: Spring 1996 1997 Documentary Himself
Beautiful Losers 1997 TV Movie documentary
Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1997 Documentary Himself
Later... With Jools Holland 1993-1996 TV Series Himself
United States of Poetry 1995 TV Mini-Series documentary Himself
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Way of Life 1994 Documentary Narrator
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation 1994 Documentary Narrator
Spirit, Show and Songs 1994 TV Movie documentary Himself
View from the Typewriter 1993 Himself
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 1993 TV Series Himself - Guest
Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui 1993 TV Series Himself
Late Night with David Letterman 1993 TV Series Himself
Leonard Cohen. Una nit a Barcelona 1993 TV Movie Himself
Talkshowet 1992 TV Series Himself
Schneeweißrosenrot 1991 Documentary Himself

Archive Footage

Archive Footage

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Austropop-Legenden 2015 TV Series documentary Himself
Banda sonora 2012 TV Series Himself
Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 2009 Documentary Himself
Rise Up: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s 2009 TV Movie documentary Himself
Catalunya.cat 2008 TV Movie documentary Himself (uncredited)
Weltberühmt in Österreich - 50 Jahre Austropop 2006 TV Series documentary Himself - Arenabesetzung, 1976
Silenci? 2006 TV Series Himself
Leonard Cohen: Under Review 1934-1977 2006 Video documentary Himself
Shakin' All Over! 2006 TV Movie documentary
The Greatest Canadian 2004 TV Mini-Series documentary Himself
Looking for Leonard 2002 Himself
Viva 2001 TV Series Himself
Canada: A People's History 2001 TV Series Himself
Donald Brittain: Filmmaker 1995 Documentary Himself (uncredited)
Ohne Maulkorb 1986 TV Series documentary Himself
Hittimittari 1985 TV Series Himself

Won awards

Won awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovieAward shared with
2011 Prince of Asturias Award Prince of Asturias Awards Letters
2008 Grammy Grammy Awards Album of the Year · Herbie Hancock (Artist/Producer)
· Norah Jones (Featured Artist)
· Joni Mitchell (Featured Artist)
· Corinne Bailey Rae (Featured Artist)
· Luciana Souza (Featured Artist)
· Tina Turner (Featured Artist)
· Larry Klein (Producer)
· Helik Hadar (Engineer/Mixer)
· Bernie Grundman (Mastering Engineer)
1986 Genie Genie Awards Best Original Song Night Magic (1985) · Lewis Furey

Nominated awards

Nominated awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovieAward shared with
1986 Genie Genie Awards Best Original Song Night Magic (1985) · Lewis Furey


Looks like we don't have salary information. Sorry!


#Quote
1 Before the pesky little problem of losing everything I had, I had the feeling I was treading water - kind of between jobs. A bit at loose ends. When the money problem arose, what bothered me most was that I was spending all my time with lawyers, accountants, forensic accountants.. I thought, if God wants to bore me to death I guess I have to accept it.
2 [on his plan, as he turns eighty, to resume smoking] I'm really looking forward to this moment. A young nurse in a white uniform, white lisle stockings, carrying a pack of cigarettes on a silver tray will walk across the stage..and the pack will be opened. It will be gleaming like the pillars of the Parthenon. And she'll light me up. It's going to be good.
3 I like the life on the road because it is so regulated and deliberate. Everything funnels down to the concert. You know exactly what to do during the day and you don't have to improvise.
4 I had wonderful love, but I did not give back wonderful love. I was unable to reply to their love. Because I was obsessed with some fictional sense of separation, I couldn't touch the thing that was offered me, and it was offered me everywhere.
5 There is no difference between a poem and a song. Some were songs first, and some were poems first and some were simultaneous. All of my writing has guitars behind it, even the novels.
6 I never really liked poetry readings; I liked to read poetry by myself, but I liked singing, chanting my lyrics to this jazz group. It felt a lot easier. (On his metamorphosis from poet to musician)
7 My songs last about 30 years - that's about the lifespan of a Volvo. But they're designed to last as long as possible. My own critical examination of the songs is very severe: if it can survive examination by the heart, the mind and the gut, then I think the song can last a little while.
8 We used to play music for fun. Much more than now. Now nobody picks up a guitar unless they're paid for it.
9 I always considered myself a minor writer. My province is small, and I try to explore it very, very thoroughly.
10 The sole indiscretion in my professional life. - 1994 BBC radio interview detailing his regret on revealing Janis Joplin's name, for whom he'd written, "Chelsea Hotel No. 2
11 I didn't want to write for pay. I wanted to be paid for what I write.

#Trademark
1 Often writes about religious or political themes
2 His distinctive singing voice, which has become significantly deeper over time

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