Leonard Cohen - Facts

Leonard Cohen - Facts

·        Born 21 September 1934 - Died 7 November 2016

·        Leonard Cohen was a Canadian poet, songwriter, singer, musician, and novelist.

·        Cohen named his daughter 'Lorca' after Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, a good friend of Pablo Neruda.

·        Cohen spent 2 years living in a cabin in Tennessee, many years on the Greek island of Hydra and also in a trailer in the south of France.

·        He was brought up by Jewish parents, however Cohen took inspiration from many believes and religions, not only Hebrew but Zen writings and other spiritual walks of life.

·        In 1994, Cohen retreated to a Zen temple in L.A. where he underwent 5 years of seclusion.

·       One of Cohen’s books, Beautiful Losers (1966), was described by one reviewer as "the most revolting book ever written in Canada."  

·       Cohen's song 'Chelsea Hotel No 2' was controversial for the graphic sexual detail in the lyrics, which was later revealed to be about his brief affair with Janis Joplin.

·       Cohen's most well known song is 'Hallelujah'. Cohen supposedly wrote 80 different verses for the song before coming to the ones he was happy with. Since its release its been covered by over 200 artists around the world in various language, it is even so popular in Israel that it is broadcasted by the Israeli Defence Force's radio channel every Saturday night at 2am.