Legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has died at the age of 82 and predicted his death in a final love letter to his dying ex-girlfriend Marianne Ihlen earlier this year.
The Hallelujah star wrote to Marianne, who was in the final stages of leukaemia, that he thought he would 'follow soon' in the heartbreaking note written in July.
Cohen's record label confirmed his death on Thursday, just months after he learned that his ex-love was dying through her friend Jan Christian Mollestad.
After learning of her condition, the Bird on a Wire singer wrote an ode to her.
Mollestad recalled: "It took only two hours and in came this beautiful letter from Leonard to Marianne."
He read Cohen's letter to her before she died which Mollestad revealed on Canadian radio.
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Mollestad said: “It said well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.
"And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that.
"But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”
Cohen wrote the classic song So Long, Marianne about her in 1967. They had met on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960.
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She had recently been left by her husband Axel Jensen, leaving her and their six-month-old son alone on the island.
Cohen invited her and her son to live with him in Montreal, an offer which she accepted.The two lived together throughout the 1960s, commuting between New York, Montreal, and Hydra.
Cohen dedicated his third volume of poetry, Flowers for Hitler, to her, and she directly inspired many of his other songs and poems. A photo of her appears on the back cover of his second album, Songs from a Room.
So Long Marianne
Come over to the window, my little darling
I'd like to try to read your palm
I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy
Before I let you take me home
Now so long, Marianne
It's time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again
Well, you know that I love to live with you
But you make me forget so very much
I forget to pray for the angels
And then the angels forget to pray for us
Now so long, Marianne
It's time that we began to laugh
And cry and cry and laugh about it all again...
The Canadian poet and novelist who became a singular international presence as a singer-songwriter died at the age of 82.
A statement on his official Facebook page read: "It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief."
Leonard Cohen dead