Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, and painter. His work was mostly about religion, politics, sexuality, and personal relationships most notably seen in his best known work "Hallelujah". 
Cohen was added into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honor. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.
Early life.
Cohen was born on September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec into a middle-class Canadian Jewish family. His mother was Marsha (Masha) Klonitsky and his father was Nathan Cohen. Cohen's father died when he was nine years old. 
During his high school years in Westmount, Cohen learned and played the guitar many times and wrote poems. He studied at McGill University.
Career.
Cohen started a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s. Cohen did not start his music career until 1967, at the age of 33. His first album, "Songs of Leonard Cohen" (1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: "Songs from a Room" (1969), "Songs of Love and Hate" (1971) and "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" (1974). 
His 1977 record "Death of a Ladies' Man" was co-written and produced by Phil Spector. In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional "Recent Songs", which blended his acoustic style with jazz and Oriental and Mediterranean influences.
"Hallelujah" was first released on Cohen's studio album "Various Positions" in 1984. Cohen wrote around 80 draft verses for "Hallelujah", with one writing session at the Royalton Hotel in New York where he was reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, banging his head on the floor. This became Cohen's best known work. "I'm Your Man" in 1988 marked Cohen's most popular album with the song "Everybody Knows". In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, "The Future", which had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest.
Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of "Ten New Songs", which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His eleventh album, "Dear Heather", followed in 2004. After a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2010, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: "Old Ideas" (2012), "Popular Problems" (2014) and "You Want It Darker" (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death.
Personal life.
Though never married, Cohen had two children: Adam and Lorca with his girlfriend Suzanne Elrod. He was also romantically linked with Marianne Ihlen, Janis Joplin and Rebecca De Mornay.
Death.
Cohen died in 7 November 2016 of leukemia and from complications of a fall in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, aged 82.
His funeral was held on November 10, 2016 in Montreal, at a cemetery on Mount Royal, his congregation Shaar Hashomayim confirmed.
As was his wish, Cohen was laid to rest with a Jewish rite, in a simple pine casket, in a family plot.