Leonard Cohen Chords

Looking for Leonard Cohen chords? Look no further! All the chords for Leonard Cohen’s songs like “Hallelujah”, “Dance Me to the End of Love” and “So Long, Marianne” can be found below. Leonard Norman Cohen was born on September 21, 1934 in Montreal, Canada. Before he became a world-famous folk singer, Leonard Cohen was a novelist and poet, with several published books to show for it. Supported by a writing scholarship, he lived on the Greek island Hydra together with Marianne (yes, from the song) and many other artists that enjoyed the freedom there. It was not until he was 33 years old that he was discovered as a musician.

**Becoming a singer-songwriter **

When Cohen visited the USA and played his music to folk singer Judy Collins, he wasn’t even sure “Suzanne” could be called a song. Partly because it was originally a poem and party because Cohen didn't think much of himself as a singer or a guitarist. Collins was impressed and recorded and released the song herself. One year later, in 1967, the debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen was released, including the song “Suzanne”, which had become a hit single. His first performance came after the success of the single, but because of stage fright, Cohen stopped playing in the middle of the show and left the stage. Together with Judy Collins, he finished the performance and was hooked to it from that very moment, paving the way for memorable gigs at the biggest music festivals around the globe.

Sex, drugs and buddhism

During his career that lasted more than six decades, Cohen toured extensively and changed his minimalist acoustic folk sound along the way. He worked, for example, with Phil Spector on his 1977 album Death of a Ladies’ Man. Probably his most famous song, “Hallelujah”, was released for the first time in 1984. It was covered by John Cale, Jeff Buckley and many, many other artists. Some say more than 200 artists, making it one of the most covered songs on the planet. Curious about the chords Leonard Cohen used in this song? Check out the “Hallelujah” chords here.

In the 90s, Cohen became a buddhist and even lived as a monk in a buddhist retreat in California for years. During his retreat, he discovered that his manager and lifelong friend obscured millions of his savings, leading to lawsuits in the early 00s. After 13 years, he was seen in public for the first time again in a bookshop in Toronto, signing his book “Book of Longing” and performing a couple of songs. In 2008, at the age of 73, he started touring again.

**Awards **

The 14th studio album You Want It Darker was released just a couple weeks before his death in 2016. In total, Leonard Cohen won numerous awards, among them the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Grammys. Post-hum awarded another Grammy for You Want It Darker.

Together with musicians like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, Patti Smith and Lou Reed he defined the sound of the 60s and way beyond. You find all Leonard Cohen chords to his tracks here at Chordify.