Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr., C.C., O.Ont., (born 17 November 1938) is a Canadian singer and songwriter who achieved international success in folk, country, and popular music. As a singer-songwriter, he came to prominence in his native Canada in the 1960s, and broke through on the international music charts in the 1970s with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974) and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976). His songs have been recorded by some of the world's most successful recording artists, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. Noted Canadian music critic Ernest Boyd said in a recent interview: "Lightfoot is the greatest treasure we have".

Lightfoot was born November 17, 1938 to Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. and Jessica Lightfoot in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. As a youth, he sang in the choir of St. Paul’s United Church under the direction of choir-master Ray Williams. Lightfoot remarked in 2005 that it was Williams who “taught him how to sing with emotion and how to have confidence in his voice”.[1] [2] [1]Lightfoot moved to Los Angeles, California during the 1950s where he studied at Hollywood’s Westlake College of Music.