Leonard Cohen biography, age and cause of death, family members

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, novelist, and folk music legend. His work was known for deeply melancholic lyrics exploring themes of longing and loneliness. His most famous songs, "Suzanne" and "Hallelujah," have been covered countless times by other artists.

Childhood

Leonard Norman Cohen was born on September 21, 1934, in Westmount, Canada, into an Orthodox Jewish family. His maternal grandfather, Rabbi Solomon Klinitsky-Klein, escaped Poland for Canada during the 1923 Jewish pogroms. His paternal grandfather, businessman and bon vivant Lyon Cohen, co-founded Canada's first Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Times. His mother, Masha Klinitsky, was an immigrant from Lithuania.

Leonard grew up steeped in Jewish traditions, attending Jewish school and eventually celebrating his bar mitzvah.

Leonard's father died when he was 9 years old. That's when young Leonard began writing poetry. He drew inspiration from Walt Whitman's poetry, W.B. Yeats' work, and Henry Miller's writing.

He also had a passion for music. At 17, he bought his first guitar for just $12. Cohen later recalled it as a terrible instrument with metal strings that sliced his fingers raw. Without pop culture or television, he had to teach himself everything. Leonard only discovered guitars with softer nylon strings years later. "Girls like guitars," he figured, so he formed the group "Buckskin Boys."

In 1951, Leonard became a student at McGill University in Montreal, where he studied English literature. There, he won the Chester MacNaughton Prize for creative writing with a series of four poems.

After university, Cohen intended to become a lawyer and even studied for a year at Columbia University. But discovering beatnik culture, Jack Kerouac's works, and folk music pulled him back to his creative calling.

Writing Career

Leonard Cohen's first poetry collection, "Let Us Compare Mythologies," dedicated to his father's memory, came out in 1956. The book brought him no fame, no money, and none of the women he desperately wanted.

Leonard decided to switch to prose. In 1963, he published the novel "The Favourite Game," followed by "Beautiful Losers," which the Toronto Daily Star's Robert Fulford called "the most revolting book ever written in Canada." Other critics drew comparisons to William S. Burroughs, James Joyce, and Thomas Pynchon. The story unfolded through the eyes of a completely disillusioned, exhausted, and cynical narrator.

Cohen wrote the book on the Greek island of Hydra, living almost like a hermit. He wrote up to 20 hours a day, fueling himself with heavy doses of LSD. During the final week, he suffered a nervous breakdown and severe sunstroke, spending two weeks delirious with fever reaching nearly 40°C.

As a writer, Leonard Cohen did not receive universal recognition

Another novel by Cohen, "The Ballet of Lepers," was never published. It is stored in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.

Musical Career

In 1966, Cohen realized he couldn't make a living as a writer in Canada. He moved to New York to pursue a musical career. He was already 32 years old. Every music promoter told him he was "too old for such games."

Leonard settled into the Chelsea Hotel, where Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan lived. Cohen sang his song "Suzanne" over the phone to folk singer Judy Collins. She promised to cover the song, but Cohen thought it was a joke. But the song did appear on her album "In My Life" (1966).

In the summer of 1967, Leonard was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, where Bob Dylan's producer John Hammond noticed him. In Cohen's Chelsea Hotel room, Hammond listened to seven songs and offered him a contract with Columbia Records.

Leonard Cohen - Suzanne

On December 27, 1967, Cohen's debut album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" was released. The album reached number 13 on the UK charts. The new singer was terrified of making mistakes, but Hammond was incredibly generous. In the studio, Hammond would read the newspaper, paying no attention to Cohen, which made him feel freer and more confident.

In the US, the album didn't crack the Billboard Top 100, and neither did any of Cohen's later works. He never became a major figure in the United States. The flower power generation had no use for the melancholic songs of a mature man in a suit and hat. Cohen didn't fit the spirit of the times.

In interviews, he often said that 'the 60s were a great time that lasted about eleven minutes, and then the merchants arrived.' Such statements didn't exactly endear him to the youth.

In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries, Cohen flew to the Promised Land and asked to enlist as a volunteer on the front lines. When refused, he contributed to the war effort by performing for IDF soldiers.

Leonard Cohen comes from an Orthodox Jewish family

The album "Death of a Ladies' Man" (1977) was Cohen's only work with legendary producer Phil Spector. According to Cohen, it was complete madness. Spector showed up to the studio with a gang of armed bodyguards and shot down all of Cohen's recording suggestions. Eventually, Cohen threw in the towel. The result was an awful album with raw vocal tracks.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (Live In London)

Cohen's most famous work was the album "The Future" (1992), which actress Rebecca De Mornay helped record. Trent Reznor included the title track and "Waiting for the Miracle" in the soundtrack for Oliver Stone's film "Natural Born Killers." The track "Democracy" was played at Bill Clinton's inauguration. Much to his own surprise, Cohen received recognition just when he was about to quit music.

Leonard Cohen - Waiting For The Miracle

Soon after, the tribute album "I'm Your Fan" was released, featuring Leonard's songs performed by John Cale, R.E.M., and The Pixies. Kurt Cobain also expressed his love for Cohen's work.

Starting in 1996, Cohen spent five years at a Zen Buddhist monastery near Los Angeles. He served as driver for his mentor Roshi, meditated daily, and cooked for the community. This experience helped Cohen overcome his depression and find inner peace. When asked how he reconciled Judaism and Zen Buddhism in his worldview, Cohen replied, "There is no religious worship or prayer in Zen, which means that theologically, Judaism and Zen do not contradict each other."

Leonard Cohen in a Zen Buddhist monastery

In 2010, Cohen received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in Music. In 2015, his song "Nevermind" was featured in the opening credits of "True Detective's" second season.

Leonard Cohen's Personal Life

Leonard Cohen never married. Because of the womanizer persona he crafted in his songs, many assumed he'd been with dozens of women. Later in life, he revealed this was far from the truth. Instead, each decade featured one significant, long-term relationship.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen

In the '60s, he was with Scandinavian beauty Marianne Ihlen. The pair lived on the Greek island of Hydra, completely off the grid—no cars, electricity, or running water. She died in 2016, just three months before Leonard himself.

In the '70s, his muse was artist Suzanne Elrod, who gave him two children. His son Adam became frontman of the band Low Millions. He named his daughter Lorca after poet Federico García Lorca. Lorca became a photographer and later curated the video sequences for her father's world tour concerts.

In the '90s, Leonard was with actress Rebecca De Mornay. She would be his final romantic partner.

Cohen had three grandchildren: Cassius through Adam, and Viva and Leon through Lorca.

Young Leonard was fascinated by hypnosis. He first experimented on animals, then on the family housekeeper—even making her undress.

Religion remained central throughout Cohen's life. He believed meditation offered far more than fame, wealth, wine, and women ever could.

Some critics questioned Cohen's authenticity, noting how he'd repeat identical movements, jokes, and even kneel at the exact same moments during concerts.

Death

Leonard Cohen's final album, "You Want It Darker," was released in October 2016. One song featured the Hebrew words "Hineni, My Lord," meaning "Here I am, Lord." Fans interpreted this as a premonition of his death, but Cohen dismissed such fears at a press conference, declaring: "I intend to live to 120."

But on the night of November 7, 2016, Leonard Cohen died at his Los Angeles home. He passed peacefully in his sleep. The cause of death was leukemia. He was buried according to Jewish tradition in his hometown of Montreal on November 10.

On November 9, 2017, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art held an interactive exhibition dedicated to the singer's work.