It has now been a year since the death of Leonard Cohen, and in honor of his life, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is hosting Leonard Cohen – Une brèche en toute chose / A Crack in Everything, an art exhibit in his memory. Last night, there was also a memorial concert, “Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen,” at the Bell Centre in Montreal, which featured appearances from Lana Del Rey, Philip Glass, Sting, Feist, Elvis Costello, Damien Rice, k.d. lang, Courtney Love, Seth Rogen, and others. For her performance, Del Rey teamed up with Adam Cohen, Leonard’s son who also co-produced the event, for an acoustic duet of Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2,” which she first covered in 2013.
When Cohen passed, Del Rey wrote on Instagram, “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t kind of break my heart that I never got to tell you how much you changed me. Not that it would’ve mattered to ya, it’s just that other than Bob and Joan you were the only person I ever really felt spoke my language.” As for his son, he previously said the following about organizing the event:
“My father left me with a list of instructions before he passed: ‘Put me in a pine box next to my mother and father. Have a small memorial for close friends and family in Los Angeles… and if you want a public event, do it in Montreal.’ I see this concert as a fulfillment of my duties to my father that we gather in Montreal to ring the bells that still can ring.”
Watch a snippet of their performance above, and check out Del Rey’s 2013 cover below.
