Neil Young paid tribute Tuesday to fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who died on Monday at 84.
“Gordon was a great Canadian artist,” he wrote on his website. “A songwriter without parallel. His melodies and words were an inspiration to all writers who listened to his music, as they will continue to be through the ages.
“There is a unique and wonderful feeling to Gordon’s music. Lightfoot is a Canadian legend.”
Young said he spoke to Lightfoot only weeks ago “and he sounded happy.”
The 77-year-old covered Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain” and “If You Could Read My Mind” on his 2014 album A Letter Home.
In the last six months, Young's fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson and former bandmate David Crosby have died.
Tributes to Lightfoot have flooded social media since his death at a Toronto hospital on Monday night. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed but, last month, Lightfoot cancelled his 2023 concert schedule due to “some health-related issues,” according to a statement.