Bruce Cockburn

Musician

• Born: May 27, 1945
• Place of Birth: Ottawa, Ontario

Contribution: World-renowned musician Bruce Cockburn has been in the music industry since the 1960s, developing a solo career that has survived for more than forty years. Cockburn‘s music ranges from folk to rock, and his lyrics address a variety of topics, including Christianity, love, politics, and environmental issues.

Early Life and Education

Bruce Douglas Cockburn was born on May 27, 1945, in Ottawa, Ontario. Cockburn discovered his passion for music at an early age and studied the clarinet and trumpet while in elementary and junior high school. In high school, Cockburn learned to play guitar and piano. During this time, he studied music theory and was greatly influenced by musicians Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, as well as beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. He displayed his musical talent with different bands while performing at local coffeehouses.

In 1963, Cockburn left high school and headed to Europe, where he was a street performer for three months. Upon returning to North America, Cockburn enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, to study music composition. He spent only three semesters there before returning to Ottawa in 1965, whereupon he joined the Children, a local band led by poet and musician Bill Hawkins. It was Hawkins who helped Cockburn realize his abilities and encouraged him to write his own songs.

Musical Career

Cockburn stayed with the Children until the band split in 1967, at which time he moved to Toronto to join the band the Flying Circus (later known as Olivus). During his time with the Children, Cockburn had written lyrics. None of his songs were performed by the band at the time, but some were recorded by 3’s a Crowd, a group that Cockburn became involved with in 1968. While with 3’s a Crowd, Cockburn branched out and began performing alone, making his first solo appearance on August 11, 1968. After leaving the band in 1969, he collaborated with Bernie Finkelstein and recorded his first solo album, Bruce Cockburn. The album, released in 1970, helped establish Finkelstein’s record label, True North Records.

During the 1970s, Cockburn’s music focused on themes of love and nature. In 1974, when Cockburn converted to Christianity, his music became infused with religion as well. Throughout the decade, Cockburn produced ten albums, including In the Falling Dark (1976), the live release Circles in the Stream (1977), and Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws (1979), the latter of which featured “Wondering Where the Lions Are,” the song that propelled him to international fame.

In the 1980s, Cockburn’s musical themes and tempos changed again. After several years of touring internationally, he began producing music with more of an edge, with hard electric-guitar sounds coupled with political lyrics. He produced eight albums during this decade, including Humans (1980), Stealing Fire (1984), and World of Wonders (1986). It was during this period that Cockburn produced one of his most famous songs, 1984’s “If I Had a Rocket Launcher,” created in response to his trip to Central America, where he witnessed numerous attacks on refugee camps in Guatemala.

A new decade brought another change to Cockburn’s music. During the 1990s, Cockburn reinvented himself once again and switched his sound to a combination of rock and folk music. Big Circumstance (1988) and Nothing but a Burning Light (1991) are two of the seven albums created during this decade. While Cockburn recorded some albums in California with Columbia Records, he continued his loyal relationship with longtime manager Finkelstein. Also during the 1990s, Cockburn became increasingly involved with political and environmental issues, speaking out against the use of land mines and visiting a number of third-world countries.

In the first decade of the 2000s, Cockburn remained active, releasing five albums, including the compilation Anything Anytime Anywhere (2002) and the live album Slice o’ Life (2009). His first album of the 2010s was Small Source of Comfort, released in 2011. His next album, Bone on Bone, was released in 2017 and won the 2018 Juno Awards Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. Two more albums followed: Crowing Ignites in 2019 and the 2023 release, O Sun O Moon.

Coburn became a member of the Order of Canada in 1984. In 2002, he was promoted to officer, a year after being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He has received numerous honorary doctorates, and in 2012, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2024, he was inducted into the Mariposa Hall of Fame in Orillia, Ontario, where he had played the annual folk festival for the ninth time.

Personal Life

In 1969, Cockburn married his girlfriend, Kitty. The two had a daughter, Jenny, born in 1976, before divorcing in 1980. In November 2011, Cockburn’s long-term girlfriend, M. J. Hannett, gave birth to his second daughter, Iona.

Bibliography

“Bio.” Bruce Cockburn—Official Site. Bruce Cockburn, n.d. brucecockburn.com/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2024.

Cockburn, Bruce. “Boundless: An Interview with Bruce Cockburn.” Interview by Thomas Hauner. PopMatters. PopMatters.com, 12 May 2011. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.

Patch, Nick. “Bruce Cockburn, 66, and Girlfriend Welcome New Baby.” Toronto Star. Toronto Star, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.

Saxberg, Lynn. “Bruce Cockburn: Still Making Music That Matters.” Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia Network, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.

Wagamese, Richard. “Bruce Cockburn: The Troubadour at 67.” Canada.com. Postmedia Network, 2 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.