The family of Canadian country music icon Ian Tyson confirmed the news of his passing in an official press release, stating he passed away from ongoing health complications after having spent his final days at his southern Alberta ranch. Tyson was 89.
Tyson was a legend in the Canadian music scene as a folk, Western, and country-rock singer-songwriter, beginning his career as one-half of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia in 1959. By 1961, the pair became a full-fledged folk act, and them married in 1964. The duo would go on to found and front the country-rock group, The Great Speckled Bird, in 1969. The pair released over a dozen albums, writing and performing hits like Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds” and “Someday Soon,” and Sylvia’s “You Were on My Mind.” Their songs have been covered countless times by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Judy Collins, and the couple mentored aspiring Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot.
By 1975, Ian & Sylvia were divorced and stopped making music together. Tyson went on to train horses in the ranch country of the Canadian West, but still continued to play and record music. In 1989, he was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame alongside Sylvia in 1992. Tyson last single, “You Should Have Known,” was released in September 2017.
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