Now, one year later, Gord's brothers take us through his final year full of passion and emotion, and share what it was like to be right by his side the entire way. Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip (Photo by Aven Hoffarth) One of the best things about Gord Downie was his thoughtfulness. "For me, it's not as easy. Not a word. [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]. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. [11][12] I see stuff and I ," Patrick says, taking a moment to collect himself before continuing his thought. [74], Arjun Sahgal, an oncologist with the Sunnybrook Hospital who had been involved in treating Downie after his cancer diagnosis, lauded Downie's strength and courage in continuing to tour, make music and use his fame to publicize both cancer awareness and indigenous reconciliation issues, and called Downie "a Terry Fox in the modern day".[75]. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. The album consists of ten songs. Gord Downie: In my mind, there's always a TV flickering away in the corner of every song. he asked an interviewer from the Toronto Sun. Post navigation The 23-song double album is due out Oct. 27, 2017, and is expected to be released posthumously by the Canadian label Arts & Crafts. Gord Downie is the late lead singer and songwriter of rock giants The Tragically Hip. "It certainly took ahold of Gord, I think, because it's just so simple a boy trying to get home. [30] In December 2017, Downie was again named Canadian Newsmaker of the Year for the second year in a row, in recognition of the public reaction to his death. They tapped into rocknrolls primal energy in ways that had been largely forgotten by the late 80s: they were a dressed-down, no-frills roadhouse bar band whose videos were rejected by MTV, a band whose sound was far removed from the eras pop stars, stadium rock, hair metal, aging Boomers, newer bluesy bandseven from alternative icons like R.E.M. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. If the Tragically Hip frontman had to check out early as he did on Tuesday at 53 years of . Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. Earlier this fall, Downie announced he had been working on another solo album, Introduce Yerself. "The Barenaked Ladies? The Secret Path began as 10 poems that Gord Downie wrote as he grappled with Chanie's story. He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer. The Tragically Hip, photographed in New York in February 1992. Updated at 11:10 a.m. [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. 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 500 Greatest Songs of All Time The Tragically Hip announced his diagnosis on their website on May 24, 2016. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. [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. I dream about it, but I dont want to get too far ahead of myself, he said. Bobcaygeon, meanwhile, is a summer sing-along named for a sleepy town in East-Central Ontario, though the lyrics also grapple with the 1933 Christie Pits riot, during which Torontos Jewish community clashed with so-called Swastika clubs. My name is Maurice Duplessis, as he did on the stage of Vancouvers Thunderbird Stadium on Canada Day, 1992. Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman who united a diverse array of music lovers with his commanding stage presence and Canadiana-laced lyrics, has died, Gord Downie remembered by fans, Canadians far and wide, Remembering Gord Downie: Watch our Olympic montages set to Tragically Hip songs, 'Words cannot express our sorrow': Northern Ontario First Nations mourn passing of Gord Downie, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Each night, Downie took to the stage dressed in metallic leather suits and feather-adorned hats, performing hits from the Tragically Hip's entire discography. In the bands first three years, they played 60s cover songs by the Rolling Stones, Van Morrisons Them, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and the Monkees. Those were the private reasons. 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. The cause was terminal brain cancer. [21] He was also a part of the Swim Drink Fish Music club, a project that unites artists and environmentalists in a music club to raise money for Waterkeeper organizations in Canada. 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. He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life. It's the main take-away of almost everybody who worked with him,. He died of hunger and exhaustion trying to walk 600 kilometres home to the family he was taken from. Imagine if they were part of us and we them, how incredibly cool it would make us? Canadian rock legend Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip died at the age of 53 from brain cancer. Their most recent album, Man Machine Poem, hit No. ", Audience Relations, CBC P.O. [61] The CBC news broadcast, The National, spent 40 of its sixty-minute broadcast discussing Gord and The Hip. [43], In September 2017, Downie announced what would be his final solo double-album titled Introduce Yerself; it was released on October27, 2017, ten days after Downie's death.[44][45][46]. Gord Downie's brother Mike describes what the Tragically Hip's front-man went through to keep pushing his projects ahead during his final struggle with a terminal brain tumour. Our identity and culture are richer because of his music, which was always raw and honest like Gord himself. 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. And for him that missing piece became very obvious. All Rights reserved. As a musician, he lived "the life" for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. 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. To testify one more time. The entire band valued their privacy, but Downie even more so: perhaps because of the adulation directed his way, but also because of the way he was raised. When you have five children, its hard to remember all the details, said Edgar. But he did, at the final Tragically Hip show at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston on Aug. 20broadcast live on the CBC to an estimated 11.7 million viewers, with 20,000 people from across the continent assembled in Kingstons Springer Market Square to celebrate. in which the Tragically Hip are shown as a local band practising in the main character's garage. Another 11.7 million watched a CBC broadcast of the concert, with hundreds of viewing parties held in public parks, squares, movie theatres, bars and restaurants across Canada. It really was his biggest wish.". The program won the Donald Brittain Award for Best Political or Social Documentary Program[41] and Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program. In a trailer for Introduce Yerself, he noted that every song was about a single person. As a musician, he lived the life for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. That included only three live shows, in Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax, and appearances at the Ottawa WE Day event and Haydens Dream Serenade concert in Toronto. Do the work. Downie said growing up on the shores of Lake Ontario had an impact on the way he viewed the environment, which led him to support the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper as a board member and to pay for renewable energy at his Toronto home. [79] The album is co-written with Josh Finlayson, a frequent collaborator, and is accompanied with an acoustic version of all the produced tracks. 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. [80] The album, to be titled Lustre Parfait, is slated for release in May 2023.[81]. 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. He eventually joined a band that did punk covers, and was in a group called the Filters. Downie "was a great communicator," Gold said. Michael Barclay is the co-author of Have Not Been the Same, and the author ofThe Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip. Downie was born in Kingston and grew up in nearby Amherstview playing hockey and music. [citation needed], Downie died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on October 17, 2017, at the age of 53 in Toronto. The statement was released via the band's official Twitter. And it seems like you get up there every single time and give it!. [4][5] In Kingston, Downie attended the downtown high school Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, where other members of the Tragically Hip also attended. His family and managers said future releases are planned, including solo material and unreleased work with the Hip. It shouldnt have surprised us. [3] His first to hit number one was Introduce Yerself, shortly after his death. The Idol: How HBOs Next Euphoria Became Twisted Torture Porn. Tragically Hip's Gord Downie dead at 53 | CBC News Loaded. [citation needed], In Kingston, Mayor Bryan Paterson issued a statement, laid a wreath in Springer Market Square near City Hall, and signed a condolence banner. Copyright 2023 St. Joseph Communications. But music was his first love. Downie was married to Laura Leigh Usher,[48] herself a breast cancer survivor. Gord, I always wanted to ask you: how do you get the energy to make it so real every day? You are sitting on a project that might change the cultural landscape of First Nations for decades to come . "Gord and I, we knew so little about residential schools," Mike says. 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. 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." [6] In an interview with Canadian music journalist Steve Newton, Downie noted that the Tragically Hip's early setlist was originally drawn to bands such as The Yardbirds and The Stones, a decision that was made because the Hip wished other Kingston bar bands would also play the genre. "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. Comments are welcome while open. Downie had an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, which he discovered after a seizure in December 2015. That includes Downies specifically Canadian references, which were all but alien on radio playlists then (or now). He died Tuesday night surrounded by his children and family, according to a statement on the band's website. Though he wasn't afraid to go it alone as a solo artist, Downie's legacy will always be tied most closely with the Tragically Hip. During his final months, Downie chose to say goodbye in his own unique wayand he let fans bid the beloved band farewell, too. "That there wasn't a whole country, you know, we hadn't figured out what that missing piece was. [32], In December 2017, Percy Hatfield, the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) representing WindsorTecumseh introduced the bill Poet Laureate of Ontario Act In Memory of Gord Downie to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Several prominent Canadians, including actors Ryan Reynolds and Seth Rogen, Toronto mayor John Tory, singers k.d. He commented on working with the Sadies, saying, "I enjoy getting together with those guys; it's a whole other universe. By 2004, he'd clearly grown tired of the question. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. Over the course of his career, Downie released three other musically adventurous solo albums, a collaboration with Toronto roots-rock band the Sadies, and a book of poetry. [49] They had four children. He also called Downie "the greatest frontman this country has ever produced.". The Tragically Hip: 10 Essential Songs Canadian rock legend diagnosed with brain cancer in 2015. 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. 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. A young drummer in Grade 9, Johnny Fay, watched with interest. Downie also appeared in Michael McGowan's 2008 film, One Week. Canadian rock legend Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip died at the age of 53 from brain cancer. [40], At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, Downie posthumously won two Canadian Screen Awards for the television version of Secret Path. Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman who united a diverse array of music lovers with his commanding stage presence and Canadiana-laced lyrics, has died. He painted landscapes with his words, elevating Canadian geography, historical figures, and myths, Trudeau said on Wednesday. Theyre five Canadian guys who go up on stage and they look like their audience. 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. 1. Gord Downie, Soundtrack: Jumper. His words and lyrics spoke to everyone, coast to coast and across the miles. "Patrick and I are comfortable with the word legacy. A childrens choir sang The Stranger, the opening track from Secret Path. The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund is a registered charity. Gord Downie was born on February 6, 1964 in Amherstview, Ontario, Canada. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. (He wasnt nominated at that years inaugural Griffin Prize for Poetry, but he did perform at the gala.) On February 2, 2017, Downie joined Blue Rodeo onstage at Massey Hall for a performance of Blue Rodeo's song "Lost Together". The more you dig, the more you get into it, the more awful it becomes and you start to realize what was going on for so many kids.". Downies political awareness had been tweaked in 1993, when the Hip invited Midnight Oil on a summer Canadian tour; that bands singer, Peter Garrett, was an outspoken activist who would later serve as Australias environment minister. When you hear the songs, clearly it was affecting him. It's the . [23] The venue was small and not typical of the band. He was married to Laura Leigh Usher. Four of those five young men played their first gig as the Tragically Hip in November 1984, in a small white room at the Kingston Artists Association. "This is not to take away from anything he did on that farewell tour with the [Tragically] Hip, but this is what he really wanted to see to the end. His later solo records, including a rollicking, punkish 2014 album recorded with the Sadies, were remarkably conventional compared to Coke Machine Glow. "Then for him to say, 'Look at this, this is our country too. 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. Also, a series of music videos for all the songs on the album were created by Canadian artists and released on YouTube. 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. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. And all you hear are the rusty breezes pushing around weathervane Jesus. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. Tragically Hip front-man Gord Downie's brother Patrick on why he and his brother Mike are working so hard to preserve the singer's legacy. [71], CBC Radio preempted some of its regular programming in favour of a Downie tribute special hosted by Rich Terfry;[72] although news of Downie's death broke just 20 minutes before airtime, CBC Radio One's entertainment magazine show Q dropped its planned lineup in favour of a live Downie tribute special. 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. Upon hearing the news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a tribute statement on his official website. Gords command of language was profound. As a musician, he lived "the life" for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. 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. He called concert touring "grunt work," and talked about building the fan base one person at a time. [8] Originally, the band covered popular British rock songs from the 1960s. Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie performs with band members Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay and Rob Baker at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to kick off the bands latest Man Machine Poem tour in light of Downies brain cancer diagnosis, in Victoria, B.C., Canada July 22, 2016. The bands management broke the news just after the May long weekend in 2016, while simultaneously announcing a tour to promote the new album. Why a dying Gord Downie struggled to reveal 'The Secret Path' to Canadians | CBC News Loaded. The band's propulsive, muscular rock, coupled with intense live performances and Downie's cryptic, literary lyrics, allowed the band to attract a diverse fan base that included party animals and armchair philosophers alike. Aided by teleprompters showing the lyrics, Downie pranced about the stage with his signature theatrical dance moves, though less kinetically than in the past. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. Where some go to get lost. Mike says it was partly out of a sense of guilt, partly out of shame, but mainly because, like him, there were so many people in Canada that didn't know the dark history of residential schools. He rarely granted interviews, and generally eschewed red-carpet jaunts for events like the Juno Awards. No one. It was a moment that helped Gord finally get at something that had been nagging at him for years. The group said they were "humbled" with the award. Some Canadians, being a cautious bunch, flew from Ontario to B.C. [51] They were not divorced at the time of Downie's death and had remained close friends. "Ahead by a Century" was the single most-played song on Canadian radio on the day Downie's death was announced. Gord Downie, troubadour of Canada, charmed and challenged a nation After a long battle with cancer, the Tragically Hip frontman died among his family on Tuesday night. Downies privacy was put to the test in 2015, when the Huffington Post ran a story about how his Toronto home had recently sold for under the asking priceunheard of in the citys real estate market. 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. 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. [25][26] The fund is a part of Downie's legacy and commitment to Canada's First Peoples. It wasnt until the 1991 release of the bands second album, Road Apples, that Downie seized the lyrical reins entirely. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. He was the poet who once asked, When are you thinking of disappearing? I think thats all part of what appeals to Canadian fans. "In many ways, Mike is in the trenches, and I think that's really helped him cope with the pain. ", 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. Lemire created a graphic novel inspired by Downie's songs, and its images were used to create the film. [14] [64], Residents of the Ontario village of Bobcaygeon, which Downie had written about in the song of the same name, held a candlelight vigil for him the night after his death;[65] a large public gathering also took place at Springer Market Square in the band's hometown of Kingston. Gordon Edgar Downie was born in Amherstview, Ontario, and raised in Kingston, Ontario, along with his brothers Mike and Patrick, and sisters Charlyn and Paula. He listened to everything he could in his older sister's 45 collection, and used his allowance to buy records. Gord was the fourth of five children: older siblings Mike, Charlyn and Paula, and younger brother Patrick. " Rosa Hwang (@journorosa) October 18, 2017. That's a strange and comforting thing to me. Downie spent his final months speaking out in support of Indigenous people, declaring: "Canada is not Canada. Paused. He took it in stride: if part of his poetrys appeal was that he rarely telegraphed direct meaning, he had to accept the fact that fans were going to read whatever they wanted into what he said. "I really didn't know anything about them, to my shame. A documentary film, Long Time Running, about the Tragically Hip's summer 2016 cross-Canada farewell concert tour, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer. [7], In 1984, at age 20, Downie formed the Tragically Hip with Rodents's members Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair, another younger Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute alumnus, Johnny Fay, and saxophonist Davis Manning. When he finished, Gord Downie left an eternal flame. In the remote north, in a land where the many not born there dare not go. "Growing up, he always felt that there was something missing," says Mike. [6] In high school, Downie was the frontman for a band called the Slinks performing at the KCVI Variety show and rivaling older members Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair's band the Rodents. Gord Downie's not-so-Secret Path to truth and reconciliation Everything about itthe music, the film, the band, his performancemakes you want to pay attention By Michael Barclay October 22,. [25] Chanie Wenjack was a young indigenous boy who died trying to escape a residential school,[27] who became the centre of Downie's Secret Path project. What few knew in 2015, however, was that Downie and Usher had separated, promptingthe sale of the house. Create the spark. [52] Under the stage name Kaya Usher, she released her own debut album as a singer, All This Is, in 2021 with the participation of two of their four children, and some of the tracks feature Usher performing with a guitar that had once belonged to Downie. In addition to the Tragically Hip's performance, Downie sang a song with a local band, Northern Revolution. David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78 Create the spark. In his last year, while living with his own tragic story, Gord Downie was consumed by another. [57] Later in the day, he held a press conference at Parliament Hill at which he tearfully remembered Downie as "Our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he hadand not just loved it in a nebulous, 'Oh, I love Canada' way. 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. Then came May 24, 2016, when the band announced Downie's diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. When are you falling off the map? He was the singer who once sang, Do I make you scared?