--- title: Leonard Cohen Dead at 82: How Hallelujah Became a Classic description: Charting the history behind Cohen's most popular song, and how it became one of the most recognisable tracks of all time. canonical: https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-11T12:43:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:46:37.723Z article:section: History og:title: Leonard Cohen Dead at 82: How Hallelujah Became a Classic og:description: Charting the history behind Cohen's most popular song, and how it became one of the most recognisable tracks of all time. og:url: https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80fa3ec3bfbf0463/6988ae27524fc0441bdfa373/gettyimages-88678545.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5848 og:image:height: 3290 og:image:alt: Cohen On Stage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Leonard Cohen Dead at 82: How Hallelujah Became a Classic twitter:description: Charting the history behind Cohen's most popular song, and how it became one of the most recognisable tracks of all time. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80fa3ec3bfbf0463/6988ae27524fc0441bdfa373/gettyimages-88678545.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Leonard Cohen's _Hallelujah_ Became an Undisputed Classic > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Nov 11, 2016 12:43 PM UTC  Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen on stage in the UK, 27th May 1976. Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen on stage in the UK, 27th May 1976. Michael Putland—Getty Images by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Nov 11, 2016 12:43 PM UTC Tributes from musicians across the world have been paid to legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who [passed away](http://time.com/4567609/leonard-cohen-tributes/?iid=sr-link4) at the age of 82 on Thursday. The [Canadian singer-songwriter](http://time.com/4567449/leonard-cohen-life-in-pictures/?iid=sr-link2) had a long-running and celebrated career spanning decades, with his song “Hallelujah” becoming a sleeper hit decades after it was produced in 1984\. But the song for which he’s best known took some time to become an all-time classic. According to a recent profile of Cohen in [the _New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker), “Hallelujah” had taken the singer five years and multiple drafts to write before he settled on the finished version. It was released as a track on Cohen’s 1984 album _Various Positions_, and as a [2012 book](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-became-everybodys-hallelujah/265900/) about the history of the song notes, it was not well received by the singer’s record label at first. When the president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, heard the album, he reportedly said “What is this? This isn’t pop music. We’re not releasing it. This is a disaster.” CBS later decided not to release the record in the U.S., and “Hallelujah” was not released as a single. The song’s growth in popularity was instead driven by other artists, who translated their admiration for Cohen’s song into creating their own versions. Bob Dylan performed the song on the road in the late eighties, [telling _The New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker) “That song ‘Hallelujah’ has resonance for me…this song has a connective chorus, which when it comes in has a power all of its own.” In 1991, John Cale of the Velvet Underground contributed his [cover of the song](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-john-cales-macbeth-inspired-hallelujah-cover-w448254) to _I’m Your Fan_, a Leonard Cohen tribute album produced by French music magazine _Les Inrockuptibles_. Cale’s version inspired ’90s hero Jeff Buckley to release his own haunting take on “Hallelujah” ten years after the original, on his 1994 album _Grace_. Much like Cohen’s version, Buckley’s rendition didn’t achieve much commercial or critical success upon its initial release. It was only after Buckley’s [tragic death](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986548,00.html?iid=sr-link1) at the age of 30 in 1997 that his album, and his version of “Hallelujah”, took on greater significance and became much more popular. As TIME [reported in 2004](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,785365,00.html?iid=sr-link1) on Buckley’s contribution to the song’s longevity, 20 years after its original release: --- > “” --- Other artists that have covered “Hallelujah” include kd lang, Imogen Heap and Justin Timberlake. Versions of the song have been heard on many different genres of film and television, ranging from the hit animated movie _Shrek_ to political drama _The West Wing_. “Hallelujah” was also released as a single by U.K. X Factor winner Alexandra Burke in 2008, who became the first British female solo artist to sell a million copies with her version commemorating her win in the televised talent competition. When asked about the song’s meaning, [Cohen once said](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-became-everybodys-hallelujah/265900/) “This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled, but there are moments when we can … reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that’s what I mean by ‘Hallelujah.'” In the [BBC’s obituary](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37946654) of Cohen, the singer reportedly suggested he thought “Hallelujah” had been covered too many times: “I think it’s a good song, but I think too many people sing it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/"},"headline":"How Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah Became an Undisputed Classic","datePublished":"2016-11-11T12:43:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:46:37.723Z","description":"The 1984 song is now iconic, but was not an initial success","url":"https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80fa3ec3bfbf0463/6988ae27524fc0441bdfa373/gettyimages-88678545.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80fa3ec3bfbf0463/6988ae27524fc0441bdfa373/gettyimages-88678545.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cohen On Stage","caption":"Cohen On Stage","creditText":"Michael Putland—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4567693/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-history/","name":"How Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah Became an Undisputed Classic"}}]}] ```