when she met a 23-year-old Downie, who was just getting started with the Hip, playing mostly university gigs.. This was all a red (and white) herring: There are likely as many American references as Canadian ones in Tragically Hip songs, and Downie never threw darts at a map of Canada for song ideas, nor did he seek to set Heritage Minutes to music. The 100 Best Albums of 2022, Speaking with The New York Times around the bands final show, Broken Social Scenes Kevin Drew summed up the Tragically Hips influence: Were a country that hasnt really embraced its history just yet. "You find it oddly strangely comforting that no matter how old you get, when it comes to matters of the heart, you're always 15 inside. We want to hear it. Canadian rock legend Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip died at the age of 53 from brain cancer. On October 13, 2016, Downie and his brother Mike, along with the Wenjack family, announced the founding of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund to support reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. In the latter part of the decade, he pushed the band to record two albums with Bob Rockwho produced albums by the likes of Metallica and Michael Bubleand he helped broaden the bands sonic palette. Some Canadians, being a cautious bunch, flew from Ontario to B.C. He met his future Tragically Hip bandmates while attending. At the Assembly of First Nations in Gatineau, Quebec, on December 6, 2016, National Chief Perry Bellegarde honoured Downie with an eagle feather, a symbol of the creator above, for his support of the indigenous peoples of Canada. We would like to thank all the kind folks at KGH and Sunnybrook, Gord's bandmates, management team, friends and fans. Last night, Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by, his familywrote in a statement. She's trying to come to terms with the fact that, after decades of neglect, her brother's story is getting a national audience. [6] After graduating high school, Downie attended Queen's University where he majored in film studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Science in 1986. At the Juno Awards of 2018, the album won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, Downie and Drew won Songwriter of the Year for "A Natural", "Introduce Yerself" and "The North",[47] and Downie won the Artist of the Year. The interview with Patrick and MikeDowniefromThe National, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Over more than thirty years and across fourteen studio albums, Downie and his band of brothers built a legacy as the essential Canadian rock band. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. Edgar died in November 2015. Then sit back and see what happens, because its not like you can control it. Gord knew this day was coming his response was to spend this precious time as he always had making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss on the lips. The Tragically Hip announced his diagnosis on their website on May 24, 2016. Gord was the fourth of five children . When you hear the songs, clearly it was affecting him. Published Oct 20, 2017 Following Gord Downie 's passing on Tuesday (October 17), Canadians are still grieving the loss of their beloved Tragically Hip frontman. That's a strange and comforting thing to me. In 2013, the band was featured on a set of postage stampsand in July, they received the Order of Canada, one of the countrys highest honors. [1][54][55] The surviving members of the Tragically Hip made the news of his death public the next morning, by sharing an official statement from his family on their website:[54]. It really was his biggest wish.". In 2018, two recordings by Downie, "The East Wind" and "At the Quinte Hotel", were released on the compilation album The Al Purdy Songbook. The Hips biggest U.S. moment came in 1995 when after notching their third straight Canadian Number One album withDay for Night they playedSaturday Night Live. His family announced the news in a statement published on the Canadian band's . [38], In September 2016, Downie announced he would release a new solo album, Secret Path in October. Meanwhile,Secret Pathcomprised not just a record, but a graphic novel and animated film as well, all of which werebased on the tragic, but largely unknown, story of Chanie Wenjack, an indigenous 12-year-old boy who froze to death trying to escape the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School. At the end of their set that night, the whole place stood up and clapped and it was undeniable if you were in the room that night that this was something special.". David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78 In the space of a month, he transformed the half-century-old tale of Chanie Wenjacka 12-year-old boy who froze to death running away from residential school in 1966into a current concern. [9], Downie began pursuing a solo career with the release of Coke Machine Glow in 2001. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and popular artists in Canadian music history.[2]. Hey all! [77], In August, Downie's Twitter account was reactivated, and began posting a series of teaser photographs of handwritten song lyrics, accompanied by numbers that appeared to be a calendar countdown to the date of October 15. The group gigged around Canada throughout the Eighties and eventually earned a record contract after then-MCA president Bruce Dickinson caught them live in Toronto. Everyone whose family has ever been cursed with cancer projected stories onto the tale of a man who chose to stare down a terminal diagnosis and take the show on the road. Thank you everyone for all the respect, admiration and love you have given Gord throughout the years those tender offerings touched his heart and he takes them with him now as he walks among the stars. Tragically Hip front-man Gord Downie's brother Mike talks about the CBC documentary 'Finding The Secret Path.' As we move towards resolution and understanding and greater serenity in all aspects of our life, love's pretty elemental and that's nice to know. [80] The album, to be titled Lustre Parfait, is slated for release in May 2023.[81]. Outside his work with the band, Downie released five solo albums his first, Coke Machine Glow, arrived in 2001 and collaborated with an array of artists including Buck 65, Fucked Up, Dallas Green, Alexisonfire and the Sadies. Written entirely in the first person, Downie tried to feel what Chanie Wenjack was feeling on his journey from moment he was taken away from his family, to his lonely death. Canadian radio stations responded heavily to Downie's death, with early figures indicating the band's radio airplay on October 18 increased 1,500 percent compared to a normal day. He was married to Laura Leigh Usher. The band even has its own postage stamp and a street named after it, Tragically Hip Way, in Kingston, Ont. Downie died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on October 17, 2017, at the age of 53 in Toronto. He told Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown he planned to build a cabin near Chanie Wenjacks relatives in northwestern Ontario, where he could spend his final days. To testify one more time. The emotional strength that Patrick and Mike have shown is inspiring, but they add that they're driven to keep their brother's legacy alive with projects like Finding the Secret Path because of what it means to others. In December, the Assembly of First Nations honoured his work on reconciliation by endowing him with a Lakota spirit name: Wicapi Omani, or man who walks among the stars. In June, he and the band were named to the Order of Canada; Downie received his early, alongside activist Sylvia Maracle. "I think my body's giving subtext and with my voice I'll give you the confines of my heart, which is illegible," he told CBC in 1999. [66] Most rock radio stations dropped regular programming to shift to an all-Tragically Hip format for the day,[67][68] and some further announced that they would continue the all-Hip format through the weekend until the morning of 23 October. The program won the Donald Brittain Award for Best Political or Social Documentary Program[41] and Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program. Downie kept storytelling at the center of both records. Months of craniotomies, chemo and radiation therapy followed. He also performed a few live shows to support the album, with supporting musicians Kevin Drew, Charles Spearin, Dave Hamelin, Kevin Hearn and Josh Finlayson. What followed once the show hit the road, though, was a public outpouring that few could have predicted: a year of Downie transforming from an aging rock star to tragic hero. [34] The tour's final concert was held at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario, on August 20 and was broadcast and streamed live by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on television, radio and internet. Their most recent album, Man Machine Poem, hit No. Gord Downie, singer of The Tragically Hip, died of complications from brain cancer Tuesday night at the age of 53. However, the band never quite took. Updated at 11:10 a.m. [61] The CBC news broadcast, The National, spent 40 of its sixty-minute broadcast discussing Gord and The Hip. His godfather was future Boston Bruins coach and general manager Harry Sinden, and Downie enjoyed the national pastime as both a die-hard Bruins fan and a goalie who took his B-level team to a provincial championship. The gig notably came together thanks to the efforts of fellow Kingston, Ontario native Dan Aykroyd, who introduced the group despite John Goodman hosting that nights show. Wenjack was to 2016 what Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi was to 2015: a tragic symbol who launched a Canadian conversation about compassion and collective reckoning. And Then There Was David Lindley, See the Beths Deliver Refreshing 'Expert in a Dying Field' Mini-Set on 'CBS Mornings', The YSL Case Is Stretching Fulton County's Justice System to Its Breaking Point, Trump Promises to Continue Presidential Campaign if Indicted, Then Delivers a Snoozy CPAC Speech, NBA 'Investigating,' Team Suspends Ja Morant After Allegedly Flashing Gun on Social Media. When he spoke, he gave us goosebumps and made us proud to be Canadian. [11][12] " Rosa Hwang (@journorosa) October 18, 2017. [25][26] The fund is a part of Downie's legacy and commitment to Canada's First Peoples. And all you hear are the rusty breezes pushing around weathervane Jesus. Over more than thirty years and across fourteen studio albums, Downie and his band of brothers built a legacy as the essential Canadian rock band. Are you sure? Then I understood his reasoning, not the least of which was doing it for the guys, which was really lovely, and I thought, Of course. Gord Downie was a haunting presence around Toronto in 2017: singing Lost Together with Blue Rodeo at Massey Hall, taking in a PJ Harvey show, embracing Drake at a Raptors game, posing with Bobby Orr. His words and lyrics spoke to everyone, coast to coast and across the miles. 'Just seeing all those unguarded, real moments with Gord, that always just, that always gets me.'. Their self-titled debut EP arrived in 1987 while their first LP, Up to Here, followed in 1989. The Tragically Hip released their first EP in December 1987; a year after that, they headed down to Memphis to record 1989s Up to Herewhich would become one of two Hip albums to eventually sell more than a million copies in Canada. Usher was a 20-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. The statement was released via the band's official Twitter. Gordon Edgar Downie was born in Kingston on Feb. 6, 1964, and spent his formative years in nearby Amherstview. Where some get lost. As with the blanket ceremony, the emotion and pride on his face was palpable. Your father is now buried. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in attendance and the Toronto Police Department summed up the events magnitude with a simple tweet: Dear world, Please be advised that Canada will be closed tonight at 8:30 p.m. Have a #TragicallyHip day.. (THE CANADIAN PRESS) Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman who united a diverse array of music lovers with his commanding stage. The Tragically Hip: 10 Essential Songs The people Ive met, theyre so beautiful.. During their live shows, Downie would notably ad-lib lengthy stories in the middle of songs. In the remote north, in a land where the many not born there dare not go. Tragically Hip frontman wants the story of Chanie Wenjack, an Indigenous boy who died running away from a residential school in northern Ontario, to be his legacy project, Gord Downie talks about cancer, his recent cross-country tour and why he's focusing on Indigenous issues, Tragically Hip singer addresses the crowd at Saturday's show in Kingston. "You know, I feel enough pain without having to go back and see some of the images, or hear the music and things like that. It was viewed by an estimated 11.7 million people. Gord Downie is the late lead singer and songwriter of rock giants The Tragically Hip. Downie also appears in the Trailer Park Boys movie The Big Dirty, in which he and Alex Lifeson play a pair of police officers. A month later, Downie launched his Secret Path project. In 2014, Downie released an album with the Sadies called And the Conquering Sun. Not a word. Memorial has been sponsored successfully. Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone's friend, it's who we were, our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had." "He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life." "We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it." I am planning a trip to Kingston, Ontario in the next few days and was hoping to find a site to pay my respects to Gord. When are you falling off the map? He was the singer who once sang, Do I make you scared? Youre a rocknroll band. On top of that, his beloved father, Edgar, was ailing; Downie spent a lot of time with him that year in Kingston while recording the Hips Man Machine Poem at their nearby studio. Nonetheless, someone piped up. Visitors walk the deserted streets of a town that once had a population between 7,000 and 8,000 people. [1] [54] [55] The surviving members of the Tragically Hip made the news of his death public the next morning, by sharing an official statement from his family on their website: [54] Downie was born on Feb. 6, 1964, in Amherstview, Ont., just slightly west of Kingston, to Lorna and Edgar, a travelling salesman turned real estate developer. As could anyone who watched him command 40,000 people at any given outdoor appearance during the 1990s, singing songs that were summer soundtracks for an entire generation. Youre family. And [doing it for] his own family as well, to put something in the coffers for his kids.. [3] His first to hit number one was Introduce Yerself, shortly after his death. I see stuff and I ," Patrick says, taking a moment to collect himself before continuing his thought. Author Joseph Boyden, who invited them, said their motivation was to "initiate a guerrilla act of love for a people who are so thoroughly underrepresented but now, somehow, overexposed for only their shortcomings. "She said, I wouldnt go to the lobby of my building to see Frank Sinatra. In a 1991 profile of the Hip, a reporter from the Kingston Whig-Standard visited all the band members families. Colin James is also featured in the episode. The final concert was released on DVD under the title A National Celebration on December 24, 2017. He died on October 17, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. His subject matter was always broader than he was given credit for, but its easier for armchair academics to latch onto songs about hockey and a late-breaking story on the CBC; those topics werelow-hanging fruit in the dense forest of Downies imagination. [69] Several stations, including CHEZ-FM in Ottawa, CFRQ-FM in Halifax,[67] CJRQ-FM in Sudbury,[69] CJQQ-FM in Timmins, CKEZ-FM in New Glasgow and CIKR-FM in the Tragically Hip's hometown of Kingston[70] dropped their regular names to temporarily rebrand themselves as "Gord FM". It was a move unprecedented in music history: this was not a suicide, like with Kurt Cobain; this was not an addict flaming out in public, as Amy Winehouse did; this was not an artist whose later work showed clear signs of physical decline, like Johnny Cash; this was not someone who was going to disappear quietly, like David Bowie, who left us to wrestle with his final artistic statements posthumously. His death was announced on the Tragically Hip website, stating quote: Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by. Why a dying Gord Downie struggled to reveal 'The Secret Path' to Canadians | CBC News Loaded. No matter how opaque or directly critical of Canadian history he may have been, Downie faced a sea of literal flag-waving at almost every single showespecially at shows not on Canadian soil. You do it for the company but I'm genuinely shocked by the themes and things you touch based on the music you're singing to. Those were the private reasons. [62] Additionally, several National Hockey League teams and players, as well as the league itself, paid tribute to Downie through social media, owing to the high popularity of the Tragically Hip's music among Canadian professional hockey players. 1. But the bands greatest accomplishment may be transcending their status as a key Canadian cultural touchstone to an integral part of the countrys identity. He published his first poetry and prose collection alongside the album and under the same title. Though he clearly relished his role on stage, Downies approach to celebrity was always tenuous. [40], At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, Downie posthumously won two Canadian Screen Awards for the television version of Secret Path. The album was raw, experimental and far removed from the rock radio world the Hip inhabited: droning organs, atonal guitar screeches and accordions competed for sonic space with Downies vocals atop opiated folk-country songs. [31], Downie, along with his Tragically Hip bandmates, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada on June19, 2017, for "their contribution to Canadian music and for their support of various social and environmental causes". The remains of Bodie are being preserved in a state of arrested decay. Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip (Photo by Aven Hoffarth) One of the best things about Gord Downie was his thoughtfulness. Downie passed away on the night of Tuesday, Oct. 17, with his children and family by his side, according to a statement released by the band. In a trailer for Introduce Yerself, he noted that every song was about a single person. They were too traditional and aspirational to be punk or alternative, and yet they were raw enough that they immediately stood out on any mainstream radio playlist. "The Barenaked Ladies? Gord Downie was given sufficient time to pen his own obituary, and that is exactly how it should be. There were a few others there, though, most of whom knew enough to respect the privacy of the cancer-stricken man who had travelled hundreds of kilometres to disappear. ", Audience Relations, CBC P.O. When you have five children, its hard to remember all the details, said Edgar. Meanwhile, the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund was started to "start a new relationship with Indigenous Peoples.". The 15-show Man Machine Poem tour, especially its final concert, became a cultural event, as Downie's dire prognosis prompted an outpouring of support from people across the country who had the rare opportunity to celebrate a much-loved Canadian before he was gone. Now, nearly a year after Gord Downie's death, his brothers Patrick and Mike are premiering a new CBC documentary they've produced Finding The Secret Path. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. Though they were lumped together because of their work on Indigenous issuesMaracles work on which, of course, far outstretched Downies more recent foraymany wondered if the timing had more to do with health concerns. Gord did not rest from working for the issues he cared about, and his commitment and passion will continue to motivate Canadians for years to come He will be sorely missed.. ", Mike says he hopes the film makes it clear that this idea, "meant a lot to this guy, he wasn't chasing causes around, this was really important. To play live, he formed a band featuring members of the Odds, the Rheostatics, Erics Trip, Dinner is Ruined, and the Skydiggers. "That there wasn't a whole country, you know, we hadn't figured out what that missing piece was. or somewhat similarly minded mainstream artists like John Mellencamp. The backing musicians, credited as the Goddamned Band, consisted of indie rock band the Dinner Is Ruined, Josh Finlayson of Skydiggers and singer-songwriter Julie Doiron. He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer.