Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC (/ˈkoʊbərn/; born May 27, 1945)[1] is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, politics, and Christianity.
Cockburn has written more than 350 songs on 34 albums over a career spanning 40 years,[2] of which 22 have received a Canadian gold or platinum certification as of 2018,[3] and he has sold over one million albums in Canada alone. In 2014, Cockburn released his memoirs, Rumours of Glory. In 2016 his album “Christmas” was certified 6 times platinum in Canada for sales of over 600,000.
Cockburn was born in 1945 in Ottawa, Ontario, and spent some time at his grandfather’s farm outside of Chelsea, Quebec but he grew up in Westboro, which was a suburb of Ottawa when he was a teenager. His father, Doug Cockburn, was a radiologist, eventually becoming head of diagnostic x-ray at what was then called Ottawa Civic hospital.[4] He has stated in interviews that his first guitar was one he found around 1959 in his grandmother’s attic, which he adorned with golden stars and used to play along to radio hits.[5] This was replaced when his parents bought him a Kay archtop that had flat wound strings and a DeArmond pickup after his first guitar teacher, Hank Sims, declared it unplayable.[6]
Later he was taught piano and music theory by Peter Hall, the organist at Westboro United Church which Cockburn and his family attended. Cockburn had been listening to jazz and wanted to learn musical composition. Hall encouraged him and, along with his friend Bob Lamble, a lot of time was spent at Hall’s house listening to and discussing jazz.[7]
Cockburn attended Nepean High School, where his 1964 yearbook photo states his desire “to become a musician”.[8] Nepean’s music teacher at the time, Ronald E.J. Milne, said in 1988 that although Cockburn didn’t take music, he could often be seen playing guitar.[citation needed] After graduating, he took a boat to Europe and busked in Paris.[9]
Cockburn attended Berklee School of Music in Boston, where his studies included jazz composition, for three semesters between 1964 and 1966. That year he dropped out and joined an Ottawa band called The Children, which lasted for about a year.
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