Leonard Cohen's Comeback: "If anyone pitched this as a screenplay, no one would have bought it"

It took Cohen years to feel that he had the right to sing the blues. When he emerged from the Zen monastery on Mount Baldy, his enlightenment was followed with an all too worldly disaster. He had been swindled out of his life savings—around $8 million—by his former manager and lover Kelley Lynch. He was forced to go out on the road, and, a few remakes of “Hallelujah” later (including on American Idol), became the megastar he had never been before. His previous tour in 1993 had lost money. But just when he was broke, Cohen became a Canadian Idol. When he went to London, he didn’t play Albert Hall, he played the 02 Arena (where Michael Jackson was planning his comeback), and filled it for multiple nights. Cohen made back the money he lost and kept going. (Lynch did jail time and is still in hock.) He was on a roll. And the songwriting inspiration came back, too. If anyone pitched this as a screenplay, no one would have bought it.

from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/24/excuse-me-for-not-dying-leonard-cohen-at-80.html