They’re five Canadian guys who go up on stage and they look like their audience. I think that’s all part of what appeals to Canadian fans. “There can be a certain darkness in the lyrics, in some ways that reminded me of reading and listening to Leonard Cohen or Robertson Davies. “Gord Downie is definitely in the tradition of great Canadian poets,” Dickinson told the National Post in 2016. 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. We’re still trying to figure out what makes us Canadian, and we have one of the loudest neighbors in the world, so this band helped a country, and Gord helped people lyrically, slowly start to try to define themselves.”ĭownie formed the Tragically Hip in 1984 alongside childhood friends Bobby Baker, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay. Speaking with The New York Times around the band’s final show, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew summed up the Tragically Hip’s influence: “We’re a country that hasn’t really embraced its history just yet. In 2013, the band was featured on a set of postage stamps and in July, they received the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honors. But the band’s greatest accomplishment may be transcending their status as a key Canadian cultural touchstone to an integral part of the country’s identity. The band also earned 16 Juno Awards – the most ever for a band and the fourth-most ever for an artist – picking up their last two in April for Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year for Man Machine Poem. Over three decades, the Tragically Hip released 14 studio albums, the majority of which topped the Canadian album charts and were eventually certified Platinum (their first three LPs all went Diamond). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in attendance and the Toronto Police Department summed up the event’s magnitude with a simple tweet: “Dear world, Please be advised that Canada will be closed tonight at 8:30 p.m. The concert was broadcast live and viewing parties were held across Canada. That same summer, the Tragically Hip released a new album, Man Machine Poem, and embarked on a lengthy Canadian tour that culminated in an emotional final show: a hometown gig at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario.
No one.”ĭownie was diagnosed with brain cancer in December 2015, but didn’t reveal his disease publicly until May 2016. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. “As a musician, he lived ‘the life’ for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. “Gord said he had lived many lives,” they added. “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. “Last night, Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by,” his family wrote in a statement. Gord Downie, the lead singer for the beloved Canadian alt-rock band the Tragically Hip, died Tuesday at the age of 53.
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