Net worth: 

Leonard Cohen was a Canadian singer, composer, musician, and writer. At the time of his death in 2016, he had a net worth of US$20 million. His net worth could have been much higher, but Leonard lost more than $10 million due to mismanagement of the store manager and theft.

Early Life:

Leonard Norman Cohen was born in Westmont, Quebec on September 21, 1934. His father was Nathan Cohen and his mother was Marsha Klonitsky. He lost his father when he was only nine years old.

After elementary education from Roslyn Elementary School in 1948, he entered Westmount High School. In high school, he studied poetry and music and was particularly interested in the works of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. He studied the guitar as a teenager and later met a flamenco guitarist. Soon he switched from acoustic guitar to classical guitar.

He joined McGill University in 1951 as the Chairman of the McGill Debating Union. The poems “Sparrow” and “Thought of a Landsman”, which he wrote during his studies, made him the winner of the Chester McNaught Literary Competition. His first poem appeared in the magazine “CIV/n” in 1954.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955. He was inspired by die-hard writers such as Walt Whitman, William Butler Yeats, Henry Miller, Irving Layton, and Federico García Lorca.

In 1956, he published his own collection of poems, which he wrote when he was a teenager, called “Let’s Compare Myths”. The poet dedicated a book to his late father. Then he moved to New York, where he entered the Columbia University School of General Studies.

Biography:

Family:

Financial Lawsuit: 

For most of his career, Leonard’s executive director was a woman named Kelley Lynch. According to reports, in the early 2000s, Leonard began to notice that there may be some anomalies in his account. For example, he allegedly noticed that he had personally paid the bill of $75,000 to Lynch’s credit card. Around this time, he discovered that most of the money in his various accounts, including retirement funds and charity funds, was gone. According to reports, Leonard’s discovery of poor financial management began in the mid-1990s, when Lynch started to sell his music rights. Allegedly, this mismanagement started shortly after entering the Zen Buddhist retreat.

In 2005, Cohen sued Kelly Lynch, accusing her of misappropriating his finances “out of greed, self-image, concealment, deliberate deception, and reckless disregard of professional fiduciary duties”. In March 2006, he won a civil case and received a $9 million verdict. He claims that his retirement account alone has been reduced from more than US$5 million to about US$150,000.

Personal Life:

He dated Marianne K. Stang Jensen Ihlen in the 1960s, but the relationship did not last long. Then he established a romantic relationship with the artist Suzanne Elrod, and they were blessed with two children, Adam and Lorca. However, the couple never married, although many of Cohen’s songs and poems revolved around Suzanna. In 1979, they separated from each other.

Apparently, he established a relationship with French photographer Dominique Isserman and actress Rebecca De Mornay.

Career:

In 1957, Leonard Cohen returned to Montreal, Canada, where he continued his literary career, writing poetry and novels while working there. In 1961, his collection of poems “SpiceBox of Earth” was published by McClelland and Stewart in Canada. This book was well-received by readers and helped Cohen step into the poetic world of Canada. In the 1960s, he wrote many poems and novels. In the past ten years, he had published his novels “The Favourite Game” and “Beautiful Losers”, as well as the collection of poems “Flowers for Hitler”, “Parasites of Heaven” and “Selected Poems 1956-1968”.

Then he no longer focused on writing but focused more on music. He went to the United States to start his career as a singer and songwriter. His song “Suzanne” sung by American singer Judy Collins became a hit. 

He also sang at several popular music festivals in the 1960s and his talent caught the attention of John H. Hammond. Hammond, who works for Columbia Records, signed a contract with Leonard. The album “Songs of Leonard Cohen” was released in 1967 and started his music career. The album received critical acclaim a year after its release and even reached the UK charts. It was followed by his albums “Songs From the Room” and “Songs of Love and Hate”.

In the early 1970s, he toured twice, once in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and the other in Europe and Israel. At the same time, he published his book “The Energy of Slaves”. In 1974, he collaborated with American music producer John Lissauer to produce Leonard’s new album “New Skin for the Old Ceremony”, and toured Europe, the United States, and Canada to promote the album.

In 1975, he and Lissauer toured the United States and Canada to promote his new album “The Best of Leonard Cohen”. The following year, he toured Europe to promote the same album. In 1977, his album “Death of a Lady’s Man” was released and a book of the same name was published a year later. He released the album “Recent Songs” in 1979 and became a producer with this album. His collection of poems “The Book of Mercy” went on the market in bookstores in 1984 and achieved great success. The poet is highly respected. In the same year, he released the album “Various Positions”, followed by his eighth studio album “I Am Your Man”.

The only work he published in the 1990s was “Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs”, and over the next ten years, he published “The Book of Longing”, lyrics of Leonard Cohen, poems and songs. An album called “Future” was recorded during this period.

From 2001-2004, he has released two albums called “Ten New Songs” and “Dear Heather”. The 2012 literary work is the collection of poems “Fifteen Poems”, and the album “Old Thoughts” was recorded in the same year. In 2014, he produced another album “Popular Problems”, which was named the album of the year at the Juno Awards the following year.

He turned 80 in 2014, but there is no sign of a slowdown in growth. In 2015, he started to produce another album “You Want It Darker”. He has always been plagued by health problems and intuitively knows that the end is near. This album focuses on themes such as death, God and humor, and was released on the deathbed of Leonard Cohen in October 2016.

Major Works:

His song “Hallelujah” is considered one of the greatest songs of his career. This song is sung by about 200 artists in different languages. According to statistics from authoritative organizations, as of 2008, the album has sold 5 million copies. It is covered by BBC Radio Documentaries, and various movies and TV shows also showed this song.

Awards & Achievements

In 1991, this talented artist, Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In 1993, he won the “Juno Award” for Best Male Singer. In the same year, he won the “Governor’s Performing Arts Award” for his creative achievements. In 1994, he won the “Juno Award’ for songwriter of the Year. In 2003, he was awarded the “Order of Canada”.

In 2006, this composer was inducted into the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame. The following year, he won the “Grammy Award” for Best Album of the Year. In 2008, Lou Reed introduced him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in the same year he was appointed the Grand Officer of the “National Order of Quebec”. 

In 2010, he won the “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award”. In the same year, he was enlisted into the “Songwriters Hall of Fame”. In 2011, Leonard won the “Prince of Asturias Literature Award”. The following year, Cohen won the “PEN Award” for Outstanding Literary Technique and the “Prix Denise-Pelletier Award”. 

In 2013, he was named Artist of the Year in the Juno competition. He received honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University and McGill University.

Death:

Despite the devastating effects of numerous diseases including cancer, he remained active for the rest of his life. Leonard Cohen was a very influential singer and songwriter. His work lasted for nearly 50 years. He died on November 7, 2016, when he was 82 years old. On Thursday night, Canada’s Sony Music confirmed his death on the singer’s Facebook page. The statement read: “We deeply regret having to announce the death of the legendary poet, composer, and artist Leonard Cohen. We have lost one of the most respected and prolific visionaries in the music field. A memorial service will be held in Los Angeles later that day. The family asked for solitude during the mourning period”.

Cohen’s manager Robert Corey said in a statement: “Leonard Cohen died while he was sleeping after a fall in the middle of the night on November 7. Death was sudden, unexpected, and peaceful”.

Cohen’s son Adam wrote in a statement in Rolling Stone Magazine: “My father died peacefully in his Los Angeles home. He knew very well that he had completed one of his best albums. Until the last moment of his life, he wrote with his unique sense of humor”.

Rabbi Adam Scheier wrote in a statement that the composer requested, before his death, “to be laid down in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals besides his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents”.

Cohen was a dark celebrity among the most influential songwriters that emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s.