Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was born in 1934. An early writer and guitarist, Cohen began to compose and release folk-rock and pop songs by the mid-1960s. One of his most famous compositions is “Hallelujah,” a song released on 1984’s
Various Positions. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, and he received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2010.
Following news of the legendary singer-songwriter’s death, we collected 20 striking photographs of Leonard Cohen from between the 1960s and 1970s.
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| Cohen bought his home on the Aegean island in September 1960 for $1,500. Here he rides a donkey behind Marianne Ihlen, his first muse. Thydra, Greece, October 1960. (James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) |
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| Getting a drink, circa 1960. (Roz Kelly/Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen, Marianne Ihlen and Ihlen’s young son Axel Joachim are seen at the right of a crowd at Grafos taverna in Hydra, circa 1963. From So Long, Marianne: A Love Story. (ECW PRESS) |
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| Cohen at work in his home town, with his debut novel, The Favourite Game, on the desk. He described negative reviewers as ‘unhappy people who’ve failed in an art form they would have liked to excel in’. Montreal, Autumn 1963. (Allan R Leishman/ Montreal Star) |
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| Leonard Cohen in 1967. (Jack Robinson—Condé Nast/Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen is seen performing on stage at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. (Tony Russell / Redferns) |
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| Leonard Cohen performs at the Isle Of Wight Festival, on Aug. 30 1970. (Michael Putland—Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen performs at the Musikhalle on May 4, 1970 in Hamburg, Germany. (Gunter Zint—Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen in April 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (GAB Archive/Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen in April 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (GAB Archive/Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen posed in Amsterdam, Holland in April 1972. (Gijsbert Hanekroot—Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen in April 1972 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Gijsbert Hanekroot—Getty Images) |
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| Posing in Amsterdam in 1972. (Gijsbert Hanekroot—Getty Images) |
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| On stage in Denmark in 1972. (Jan Persson/Redferns) |
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| With Bob Johnston and Ron Cornelius in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1973. (Ilpo Musto/REX Shutterstock) |
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| When the Yom Kippur War broke out Cohen enlisted in the Israeli Entertainment Corp. Israel, October 1973. (Uri Dan/courtesy of Farkash Gallery) |
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| Leonard Cohen in London in June 1974. (Michael Putland—Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen in London in June 1974. (Michael Putland—Getty Images) |
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| Leonard Cohen on April 25, 1976 in Frankfurt, Germany. (Istvan Bajzat—AP) |
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| Live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1979. (Terry Lott/Sony Music Archive/Getty Images) |
