Bruce Cockburn

A songwriting hero at home and abroad, Bruce Cockburn is a well-schooled guitarist who studied at Berklee and played in a series of rock bands in the late ’60s before starting his solo singer/songwriter career in 1970. Born in 1945 in Ottawa, Cockburn spent most of the ’70s in a folk-rock mode, bringing his sophisticated acoustic-guitar work and poetic lyrics to the fore. Toward the end of the decade, he began pursuing a more rock-oriented sound, breaking through to the U.S. in the process with “Wondering Where the Lions Are.” In the ’80s, his music embraced New Wave, world music, and more, and his lyrics took a political turn, as evidenced by tracks like his 1984 hit “If I Had a Rocket Launcher.” Over the years, Cockburn has earned countless awards and honours, has had his material copiously covered, and has been the subject of a documentary, 2012’s Pacing the Cage.