Gordon Lightfoot’s scheduled concert for Oct. 17 at Wharton Center has been canceled due to the singer’s recent hospitalization.

The Canadian singer is currently recovering from surgery for a stomach ailment at the McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario.

Lightfoot is best known to Michiganians for the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

The song is a tribute to the November 1975 sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior.

All 29 crew members aboard the vessel, which was carrying iron ore to Detroit, perished in the freezing waters.

The singer and acoustic guitarist last played at Wharton in 1999.

Lightfoot’s other hits include “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “Carefree Highway.”

Rhino Records released his most recent album, “Complete Greatest Hits,” on April 2.

Ticket holders to the event will be automatically refunded.

Refunds can be expected within four to six weeks.

For more information, contact Wharton Center at (517)432-2000 or (800)WHARTON.

Amy Blaszyk