More than a hundred mourners gathered outside the Montreal home of beloved Canadian musician Leonard Cohen in the hours after the singer's family announced his passing Thursday at age 82. They lit candles, strummed guitars and laid flowers at the world-renowned musician’s doorstep on Rue Vallieres in the city’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood.
The influential poet, writer, composer, singer and activist was born and raised in the Montreal suburb of Westmount. Cohen attended McGill University and considered a legal career before pursuing music.
Cohen maintained a close connection to the city even as he became more famous. CTV Montreal’s Amanda Kline reported on Thursday that fans prayed, hugged and shed tears for Cohen well into the night.
One self-proclaimed “Leonard Cohen superfan,” Ramin Eshraghi-Yazdi, told Kline that he lives around the corner from the musician’s home and that he always sings Cohen’s music when he walks by it.
“Him being Canadian and from Montreal kind of hits home,” Eshraghi-Yazdi said. “I don’t know why we came down. I think it’s what you do when you grieve for someone you didn’t know but affected your life so profoundly.”
Another mourner told Kline that her and her boyfriend’s shared love for Cohen’s music was what brought the couple together. One group of sombre fans stood in group and recited a prayer in his memory.
Montreal’s mayor, Denis Coderre, tweeted on Thursday night that the city’s flags would fly at half-mast to honour the hometown legend.
As more and more flowers and candles amassed on the stairs of the musician’s doorstep, a simple homemade sign fastened to his door with letters spelling out “Hallelujah,” one of Cohen’s most-classic songs, peacefully blew in the evening’s chilly wind. Another sign taped to a lamppost nearby read, “Montreal Leonard Forever. RIP” with a heart drawn on it.
