Leonard Cohen

1934–2016 · Canadian singer-songwriter and poet

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) wrote ‘Hallelujah’ and recorded it first, releasing it in 1984 on Various Positions — an album Columbia rejected in the US, where an independent label issued it. The song sank without notice at the time; Cohen kept reworking it live for years, and it only became famous through the covers that followed. It is a strange fate for one of the most-recorded songs of its era: the man who wrote it is the one listeners are least likely to name.

Who recorded it

Songs Leonard Cohen recorded first

Hallelujah

Recorded it first — now often credited to Jeff Buckley

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