An upcoming Gordon Lightfoot performance is coinciding with the 36th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald - a bulk carrier that made headlines and was sent into Canadian lore when it sank on Lake Superior Nov. 10, 1975.
Lightfoot performs at the CN Centre Wednesday, Nov. 23, when he'll commemorate the tragic event with his song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which topped the Canadian charts, on the RPM national singles survey, on Nov. 20, 1976.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that launched on June 8, 1958.
With Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command and carrying a full cargo of taconite ore pellets, the Fitzgerald embarked on her final voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan, she joined a second freighter, the SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day the two ships were caught in the midst of a massive winter storm, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet high.
Shortly after 7:10 p.m. the Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian waters approximately 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay, at a depth of 530 feet. Although the Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank. Her crew of 29 perished and no bodies were recovered.
The ship is still the largest boat to have sunk on the Great Lakes.
Lightfoot was inspired to write the song after reading an article about the tragedy in Newsweek.
After five decades of touring, Lightfoot has not slowed down. Lightfoot multi-award winning ways make him one of Canada's most anticipated live performers.
His greatest hits include If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown, Early Morning Rain, Did She Mention My Name and Carefree Highway.
Lightfoot has won 15 Juno Awards and been nominated for five Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001. In May 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and is also a member of the Order of Ontario. In 2004 he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Doors open at 7, Lightfoot takes to the stage at 8 p.m. Tickets are at all Ticketmaster outlets.
