# Leon Redbone, an unusual singer from a bygone era, has died: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/05/31/leon-redbone-an-unusual-singer-from-a-bygone-era-has-died-video/
- Published: 2019-05-31T15:22:32+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Leon Redbone, the perpetually anachronistic, famously mysterious artist who rose
to prominence as a performer on Toronto’s folk circuit in the early ’70s, died Thursday
while in hospice care in Bucks County, Pa.**

Redbone’s family confirmed his death through a publicist. No cause was given, and
Redbone’s age was a subject of speculation for decades.

“I’ve heard he’s anywhere from 25 to 60,” Bob Dylan told _Rolling Stone_ in 1974,“
and I can’t tell, but you gotta see him.” That same year, when asked about his age
by _Rolling Stone,_Redbone replied: “Of course I don’t know. It’s just something
I vaguely recall. I can’t say for sure.” In the news release announcing his death,
Redbone’s age was cited as 127.

The only things known — ostensibly — of Redbone’s origins were revealed by _Toronto
Star_ columnist George Gamester in the 1980s: that he was a Cypriot named Dickran
Gobalian, who emigrated to Ontario in the 1960s and changed his name after arriving
in Canada.

Redbone’s obscurantist tendencies, including his ever-present, masking uniform of
sunglasses, bushy mustache and Panama hat, gave Redbone the aura of a quixotic time-
traveler, someone who simply stepped onto the stage fully formed.

And Redbone was a man happily — or at least, authentically — out-of-time. He played
dusty classics — from Tin Pan Alley and ragtime to blues and country — with a loose
fidelity, always anchored by his casually lovely and always wry voice.

Dylan’s endorsement, made at the apex of his and _Rolling Stone_‘s cultural footprints,
was a defining moment for Redbone and helped widened interest in him from stars 
of the era, including Bonnie Raitt and John Prine.

His commercial success, according to the _Billboard_ charts, peaked in 1977 when
the album _Double Time reached_ the top 50 — helped, in part, by two performances
during _Saturday Night Live_‘s debut season. But Redbone remained a cultural presence
for decades, singing the theme song for ’80s sitcom _Mr. Belvedere_ and appearing
as “Leon the Snowman” in the now-classic Christmas film _Elf _in 2003.

In 2015, Redbone announced his retirement from touring, with a rep цитинг health
concerns. He followed that retirement up with another album, _Long Way Home, _composed
of his earliest recordings and released by Jack White’s label, Third Man Records.

When asked by NPR’s Lynn Neary in 1984 whether he enjoyed his performances, Redbone
responded with a wink: “I never have a good time … but I try.”

![Leon Redbone performs on <em>The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson</em> on April
24, 1991.](https://i0.wp.com/mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/styles/placed_wide/
nprshared/201905/728317474.jpg?w=640)

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