Bruce Cockburn

Few Canadian songwriters have covered as much ground as Bruce Cockburn. Born in Ottawa in 1945, he moves between folk, rock shaded with jazz, and spoken-word pieces set against soundscapes, and his lyrics wrestle with spirituality, human rights, the environment and relationships, drawing on his travels in Central America and Africa. Over a career now spanning five decades he has written more than 350 songs across 34 albums, and his guitar playing and writing won him an enthusiastic following early on.

His American breakthrough came late, with Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws in 1979, whose single 'Wondering Where the Lions Are' reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1980 and brought an appearance on Saturday Night Live. Through the 1980s his writing grew more urban and political, and 'If I Had a Rocket Launcher', written after a visit to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico, became his second US radio hit. In 1991 the tribute album Kick at the Darkness, named after a line in 'Lovers in a Dangerous Time', featured a Barenaked Ladies cover that became their first Top 40 hit.