View Single Post
Old 08-08-2021, 01:20 PM   #3
charlene
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2000
Posts: 15,877
Default Re: August shows postponed

https://calgaryherald.com/entertainm...following-fall

WARMINGTON: Surgery forces Gordon Lightfoot to postpone tour
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Aug 08, 2021

Just as he was on the rise again, the sun has gone down on Gordon Lightfoot’s American concert tour, which had to be postponed after the legend required emergency wrist surgery Thursday.

Speculation swirled that the 82-year-old Lightfoot might have COVID when fans in Greensburg, Pa., were initially told that Lightfoot was in hospital and would be unable to make the trip south from Toronto for a show in their city on Friday night.

But people close to Lightfoot told the Toronto Sun the double-vaccinated icon did not contract the coronavirus but had an accident in his home just as he was preparing to leave to perform eight shows in the United States.

Lightfoot suffered a compound fracture to his right wrist when he fell in his home Thursday evening.

He was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital where witnesses say Lightfoot’s wife, Kim Hasse, and bass player, Rick Haynes, were helping to care for him.

“It was horrific,” said a family member who confirmed the accident.

With help from neighbours and family, Lightfoot was helped into an ambulance and later underwent surgery.

“The surgery went well and Gordon is back home and doing well,” said the family member.

However, he has had to postpone numerous shows scheduled during the next two months, including an Aug. 20 date at Casino Rama north of his hometown, Orillia.

Lightfoot, who’s known for hits such as Sundown,If You Could Read my Mind, Rainy Day People,Ribbon of Darkness, Carefree Highway and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, is said to be on the shelf in terms of playing for at least six weeks.

But he plans to get back on the road for other scheduled dates in the United States and Canada, including at the much-anticipated re-opening of Massey Hall Nov. 25-27.

Lightfoot was the only choice to christen the newly-renovated legendary concert venue.

An insider said Lightfoot intends to make those sold-out shows at his beloved Massey Hall and will make up the missed dates in 2022.

Lightfoot’s performances last month in the United States were very well received.

“Gord had three shows that turned out amazing,” texted his wife, Kim, of July’s performances in “Chicago” and in “Davenport, Iowa, and Clear Lake, Iowa, where the Buddy Holly crash was.”

The column I was initially working on was actually about those shows when I heard about this terrible mishap.

I wish Gordon well in his recovery and send my best wishes to the superstar, who has added another chapter to a stellar career that started in the 1960s. He is a national treasure, and his pain is felt by fans across the country and around the world.

But Lightfoot can never be counted out.

He returned to the stage after suffering an abdominal aortic aneurysm in 2002.

On one occasion, he was reported to be dead. He called AM 640’s Charles Adler to clarify he was still breathing. He also posed for a front-page picture, teasingly checking his pulse.

Lightfoot gets knocked down but seems to always get back up. His dogged perseverance is the stuff of legend.

During the pandemic, Lightfoot and his band have been rehearsing in local studios set up with social distancing protocols.

After getting his second vaccine in the spring, Lightfoot told me, “I always planned on getting it because me and the band want to get back out on the road to see our fans again. Whenever that is, we’ll get back out there and play.”

In July, that happened. Now he’s intent on making yet another comeback.
charlene is offline   Reply With Quote