‘I was crying all the way through’
Nana Mouskouri visits Leonard Cohen exhibit in Montreal
TORONTO — Singer Nana Mouskouri couldn’t imagine passing up an opportunity to walk amid the memories of her old friend Leonard Cohen.
The Greek performer was visiting Montreal last month to promote her upcoming Canadian tour when she realized it might be her only chance to see an exhibit at the city’s contemporary art museum dedicated to the poet laureate.
“Leonard Cohen: A Crack In Everything,” closes on Thursday before possibly embarking on international tour.
For Mouskouri, seeing and hearing him again was a whirlwind of emotions.
“I was crying all the way through,” the 83-year-old singer said.
“My heart was beating fast. There were so many people and that was really encouraging. They needed to go, and me too. I needed to go.”
The exhibit let Mouskouri reconnect with the friendship she held with Cohen for decades. She’d been unable to attend several Montreal trib- utes that fol- lowed his death in November 2016 at age 82.
Mouskouri and Cohen first met in early 1970s when he showed up at one of her Canadian concert dates and invited her over to his house for coffee afterwards, she’s recalled in past interviews.
They reconnected again in 1974 at a Los Angeles industry party and ended up fleeing the event to catch Bob Dylan in concert.
All three of them socialized backstage and formed a lasting connection.
Over the years, their friendship never faded, even though their careers rarely crossed paths.
Mouskouri retired for nearly a decade, but when she announced plans to return to the stage in 2014, Cohen was quick to send a note of encouragement:
“Twenty years ago, in this curious world, you raised your voice in song. I heard you then and I hear you now. I am still listening. We all are,” he wrote in part of the letter.
Mouskouri considers those the words of a mentor.
Mouskouri’s new covers album “Forever Young” puts her respect for Cohen on full display with a version of “Hallelujah,” a song that she recognizes has been adapted countless times by other performers.
But she said it seemed like the most appropriate song to perform in his passing.
Mouskouri’s Canadian tour will take her through 14 dates across much of the country. She appears in Toronto on May 16 at Roy Thomson Hall.