A new Leonard Cohen documentary sees Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and The Lumineers discuss the singer’s ruin and triumphant comeback – check out a clip exclusively on NME above.
Leonard Cohen: If It Be Your Will has been put together by Adam Cohen, son of the legendary singer-songwriter, documenting his efforts to curate his father’s memorial concert in Montreal in November 2017 on the one-year anniversary of his death.
The documentary includes contributions from a range of Cohen fans, including Springsteen, Costello, Sting, Lana Del Rey, Chris Martin, Willie Nelson, Celine Dion, Peter Gabriel, Courtney Love, kd lang and Judy Collins.
The documentary is available to watch now on the streaming service Marquee TV in the UK and US.
It tells the story of Cohen’s financial struggles in the 2000s, which prompted him to return to touring in his ’70s for the first time in around 15 years. The revival was a huge success, restoring him to huge cultural relevance and inspiring a run of acclaimed new studio albums, including 2012’s ‘Old Ideas’ and 2016’s ‘You Want It Darker’.
The clips intersperses reflections from high-profile fans with clips from some of Cohen’s comeback shows, with Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers proclaiming that “not many people get to experience their own heyday”.
Springsteen reflects on going to see him during that period. “He turned his act into this tremendous road act, where he could get up and play three-hour shows,” he said. “That was really something, not only to do three-hour shows, but these epic performances.”
Elvis Costello added: “When he re-emerged after a period of being away, he captured not just the audience that he had begun with, but a much, much younger audience. Far younger than say the audience that comes to my concerts.”
“It was the most perfectly balanced use of his songbook,” he continued. “It was the single greatest show I’ve ever seen by anybody.”
Adam Cohen has said he put together the 2017 tribute show on his father’s wishes. “I remember one time he pulled me aside and he said, ‘this is going to sound morbid, but when I go, I want you to put me in a pine box next to my mother and my father in Montreal. I want you to have a ceremony in LA with just family and friends, keep it small. And if you want to do something bigger, do it in Montreal’.”
At the show, the younger Cohen sang a duet of ‘Chelsea Hotel #2’ with Lana Del Rey, with Costello, Sting, Feist and others also performing.
Last year, an auction featuring items once belonging to Cohen took place in Los Angeles, from the collections of his friends Aviva Layton and Anjani Thomas.
A separate documentary, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, explored Cohen’s life and work through the prism of his iconic song ‘Hallelujah’, and was released in 2022. A television drama, titled So Long Marianne, based on Cohen’s relationship with Marianne Ihlen, also aired on ITVX in 2024.