Leon Redbone, An Unusual Singer From A Bygone Era, Has Died

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.