Leonard Cohen Dead at 82

Hugely successful musician and poet Leonard Cohen never changed his Jewish name, and he entertained IDF soldiers during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Legendary Canadian Jewish singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen passed away Thursday in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 82.

“It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” record label Sony Music Canada announced on Facebook.

“We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief,” the statement concluded, with no mention of the cause of his death.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Cohen as “a talented artist and warm Jew who loved the people of Israel and the state of Israel. “I will never forget how he came during the Yom Kippur War to sing for our soldiers because he felt he was a partner,” Netanyahu, who was a soldier in the IDF at the time, tweeted.

President Reuven Rivlin noted that Cohen did not change his “obviously Jewish name,” as did so many others in show business.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, “Cohen was the dark eminence among a small pantheon of extremely influential singer-songwriters to emerge in the Sixties and early Seventies. Only Bob Dylan exerted a more profound influence upon his generation, and perhaps only Paul Simon and fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell equaled him as a song poet.”

“My father passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records,” Cohen’s son Adam wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone. “He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor.”

“Unmatched in his creativity, insight and crippling candor, Leonard Cohen was a true visionary whose voice will be sorely missed,” his manager Robert Kory wrote in a statement. “I was blessed to call him a friend, and for me to serve that bold artistic spirit firsthand, was a privilege and great gift. He leaves behind a legacy of work that will bring insight, inspiration and healing for generations to come.”

By: World Israel News Staff