Renowned music legend Ian Tyson passes away at age 89

Representational image. Pic/iStock

Canadian country music icon Ian Tyson, who found his greatest renown as half of the '60s folk-singing duo Ian and Sylvia, passed away aged 89 on Thursday.

According to Variety, a US-based news outlet, the cause of death was attributed to "ongoing health complications." Ian and Sylvia's most famous song, the Tyson-penned "Four Strong Winds," released in 1963, became a folk standard. Countless musicians have covered it over the past six decades, including Neil Young (on his "Comes a Time" album), Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Teenage Fanclub, the Carter Family, Marianne Faithful, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Gillian Welch, and Conor Oberst. "Four Strong Winds" was chosen as the most crucial piece of Canadian music by CBC listeners in 2005.

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Early in the 1960s, Tyson and Sylvia Fricker, his future wife started performing together under the name Ian and Sylvia. They successfully established themselves as crucial members of the New York folk scene, performing with up-and-coming artists like Bob Dylan, whose manager, Albert Grossman, signed them to the Vanguard label. After putting out 13 albums together, the two vocalists divorced in 1975 after their 1965 marriage. They are frequently mentioned as the most similar representation of the fictitious singing pair "Mitch and Mickey" from the parody movie "A Mighty Wind."

As per a report by Variety, following the marital and professional split between Ian and Sylvia in the '70s, Tyson reinvented himself back in Canada, as someone devoted to the ranching lifestyle in a small town near Alberta, and as a solo artist focusing more on Western-style, often cowboy-themed music.

Given that Ian and Sylvia had temporarily relocated to Nashville in the late 1960s and founded the Speckled band Bird, which is regarded as a pioneering force in the emerging country-rock trend, it wasn't a completely radical change in terms of music. Tyson, however, had little interest in the folk scene, rock 'n' roll, or even mainstream country music as he concentrated on his new solo work and preferred to focus on songs that mirrored his appreciation for wide-open landscapes.

His solo CDs include '18 Inches of Rain', 'Cowboyography', 'Songs Along a Gravel Road', and 'Yellowhead to Yellowstone and Other Love Stories'. Additionally, Tyson collaborated closely with Tom Russell, another musician. Primera: The Story of the Mustangs, a children's book, was written by him.

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