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Gordon Lightfoot

8 p.m. Sunday, Southam Hall, National Arts Centre

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Tickets: Start at $64.50, available at NAC box office and online at nac-cna.ca and ticketmaster.ca

Gordon Lightfoot celebrates his 80th birthday on Saturday, and doesn’t want anyone to make a fuss over the occasion. For the Canadian Museum Hall of Famer, it’s business as usual: he and the band will be performing a few dates around Ontario, including hometown Orillia on the big day. Out of respect for the legendary singer-songwriter, we’ll hold the cake and streamers and instead present five things we love about one of Canada’s most influential artists. Happy Birthday, Gord.

A songwriter’s songwriter

It’s a badge of honour for a songwriter to have one’s songs covered by other artists. The list of those who have recorded Lightfoot’s songs reads like a who’s who of music history, including such instantly recognizable names as Neil Young, Barbra Streisand, Eric Clapton, Harry Belafonte and Johnny Cash. What’s more, two of contemporary music’s most influential artists of all time, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, are among the many who have covered Early Morning Rain, with Dylan famously observing, “I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like. Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever.”