ET. These tales would often spawn new Hip songs Nautical Disaster and Ahead by a Century were both borne out of New Orleans Is Sinking while some live versions, such as Highway Girl, proved more popular than the studio recordings. As with the blanket ceremony, the emotion and pride on his face was palpable. In a tribute to Downie at the Juno Awards ceremony, Sarah Harmer, Dallas Green and Kevin Hearn performed a medley of the album's title track with the Tragically Hip song "Bobcaygeon". 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. [13], In addition to his solo works, Downie collaborated with several fellow Canadian and international artists. The concert was broadcast live and viewing parties were held across Canada. Memorial has been sponsored successfully. [10] Yet, with the exception of certain, mostly border cities in the U.S. and pockets of support in western Europe, the Hip rarely made an impact outside Canada, continuing to play smaller venues like the House of Blues stateside while they sold out hockey arenas north of the border. By 2004, he'd clearly grown tired of the question. This was a man inviting us to his own wake. when she met a 23-year-old Downie, who was just getting started with the Hip, playing mostly university gigs.. In addition to the Tragically Hip's performance, Downie sang a song with a local band, Northern Revolution. 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. [36], Downie toured with the band in summer 2016 to support Man Machine Poem, the band's 13th studio album. He commented on working with the Sadies, saying, "I enjoy getting together with those guys; it's a whole other universe. [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. During their live shows, Downie would notably ad-lib lengthy stories in the middle of songs. Nickelback? Three days after the funeral, Downie had a seizure. Bellegarde also bestowed on Downie an honorary . The Tragically Hip formed in 1983 at Queen's University, named after a sketch in former Monkees member Michael Nesmith's long-form music video "Elephant Parts," and were soon playing the Kingston bar scene. The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie talks about the need to practice writing, in this interview from October 1989. They then honoured the 215 children who were recently found buried. 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. But things were much quieter now. It shouldnt have surprised us. Downie was married to Laura Leigh Usher,[48] herself a breast cancer survivor. "That's kind of our job, to make sure that it's in place going forward, because I do think that he had an oversized impact on this country. Post navigation Following the release of Man Machine Poem and the Tragically Hips final concert, Downie continued to work. 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. 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. 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. Gord said he had lived many lives, they added. Downie spent his final months speaking out in support of Indigenous people, declaring: "Canada is not Canada. 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. Thank you for all the help and support over the past two years. [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]. More recently, he and other members of the band appeared in the episode of Trailer Park Boys entitled "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys", in which he is harassed while eating a bologna sandwich at a singles dance. The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund is a registered charity. Downie released seven solo albums, two posthumously: Coke Machine Glow (2001), Battle of the Nudes (2003), The Grand Bounce (2010), And the Conquering Sun (2014), Secret Path (2016), Introduce Yerself (2017), and Away Is Mine (2020). He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer. I think that everyman quality matters.. "[58] Canadian MP Tony Clement called upon the government to consider holding a state funeral for Downie, stating "I think he matters that much to Canadians. Making the documentary has been a welcome distraction for Mike, and a painful reminder for Patrick. His family announced the news in a statement published on the Canadian band's . "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. Poetry and pop music are not strangers, of course: just ask the committee who granted Bob Dylan the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. Upon hearing the news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a tribute statement on his official website. A young drummer in Grade 9, Johnny Fay, watched with interest. Downie had cameo appearances in Men with Brooms, in which the Tragically Hip play a curling team. I wouldnt say its given me a stigma, but its something thats always stayed with me, not actually being from Kingston. His outsider status became part of his public identity: the poet in the bar band; the rock star slumming it with indie kids whilecozying up to intelligentsia; the artist with a commercially successful cushion who thrived on continuing to challenge himself with new collaborators and varied disciplines like dance, painting, and acting. The Bodie Group is composed of five patented claims and 224.45 acres under mineral prospecting lease from the State of Washington. Gord Downie passed away a year ago on October 17, 2017. . 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. During his final months, Downie chose to say goodbye in his own unique wayand he let fans bid the beloved band farewell, too. Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell deserve to be read on the page just as often as you play their recordsbut they dont play rock music. Downie died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on October 17, 2017, at the age of 53 in Toronto. I see stuff and I ," Patrick says, taking a moment to collect himself before continuing his thought. I know an 85-year-old with boy trouble. He delivered frenetic dance moves or stream-of-consciousness rants in ways that suggested he was channelling the music. And I'd hate for that to go away, especially with something that's so important, was so important to him. Anyone who managed to catch him fronting the Tragically Hip in 1985, playing covers at a roadhouse in Renfrew, Ont., could tell you that. [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. He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life. Imagine if they were part of us and we them, how incredibly cool it would make us? Months of craniotomies, chemo and radiation therapy followed. The hour-long film chronicles that last year of Gord Downie's life, and his determination to tell Chanie Wenjack's story: "It's such a simple story, that's part of its grasp," says Mike. 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). Do the work. 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. If anything, the Hip's lack of success in the U.S. has only made Canadians more protective of them. Word of mouth about the band spread throughout Kingston and eventually to Toronto. 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. It's the . In front of an intimate crowd of 6,700 inside Kingston's K-Rock Centre, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Downie thanked the audience "for keeping me pushing" and used the opportunity to call for action on Indigenous issues. When you have five children, its hard to remember all the details, said Edgar. or somewhat similarly minded mainstream artists like John Mellencamp. In 2005, the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Finding the Secret Path premieres . The remains of Bodie are being preserved in a state of arrested decay. It's so important to the country that we get this right. He was a board member of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. But neither video nor radio was responsible for the bands rapid ascent: it was their live performances, where Downies unusual charisma electrified everyone who piled into either biker bars or student pubs to see them. 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. [73], In the wake of Downie's death, CTV rescheduled the planned broadcast premiere of Long Time Running, a documentary film by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier about the Man Machine Poem Tour of 2016, from November 12 to October 20. Video clips dont do justice to the energy in the room generated by a performer who communicated more with a flick of the finger than anyone elses high kicks. [6] In 1986, Manning left the band as guitarist-vocalist Paul Langlois joined. Even the most cursory walk through his discography showed a man wrestling with notions of mortality in his work for years. [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] 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. The press and the music industry were largely baffled; among his peers, and especially among non-Hip fans, it remains a beloved and influential record. "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. No one. Both it and Battle of the Nudes are credited as Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles. And I think at that time our feeling was, if we knew so little about something like this, like wow, there must be millions of Canadians who have no idea.". [3] His first to hit number one was Introduce Yerself, shortly after his death. Tragically Hip front-man Gord Downie's brother Mike talks about the CBC documentary 'Finding The Secret Path.' 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. "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. Bellegarde also bestowed on Downie an honorary aboriginal name, Wicapi Omani, which is Lakota for "man who walks among the stars". Then he got up, silently, walked over to a pile of wood, picked up two logs, and returned to put them on the fire. His most famous Canadian collaborations are with Richard Terfry (better known as Buck 65), Dallas Green of City and Colour and Alexisonfire, the Sadies and Fucked Up. As soon as Mike told his brother about Chanie's story, he says Gord was transfixed and made it his purpose to bring it to Canadians. 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. 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. The song "Goodnight Attawapiskat" from the album Now for Plan A was a result of this trip.[24]. Just a few close friends on a starry night in front of a campfire. Not a word. He was the poet who once asked, When are you thinking of disappearing? "The first time we heard him open his mouth, we just went, holy shit. [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. 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. It's a story that gripped Downie, even as he struggled with the brain tumour that was killing him. "His big heart served him well," Patrick Downie said of his brother Gord. 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. The group said they were "humbled" with the award. Downie kept storytelling at the center of both records. Downies lyrics were often packed with references to Canadian totems and history, though he approached both with an appreciation for lore and a cautionary eye towards reality. Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by. Throughout the Nineties and into the Aughts, the Tragically Hip and Downie developed and expanded their sound. [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. 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. When he spoke, he gave us goosebumps and made us proud to be Canadian. In the wake of his diagnosis, Gord only fought harder for what he believed in: social justice, environmentalism and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, he added. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Downie dismissed questions about why the band didn't break big in the U.S., telling CBC that he felt successful after the band's first practice. Tragically Hip's Gord Downie dead at 53 | CBC News Loaded. As a musician, he lived the life for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. 1. "In many ways, Mike is in the trenches, and I think that's really helped him cope with the pain. (THE CANADIAN PRESS) Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman who united a diverse array of music lovers with his commanding stage. 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. In 2008, Downie appeared as a guest vocalist on City and Colour's single "Sleeping Sickness". 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. Create the spark. 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.. 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. He said he told Canadian stories because they were there to be told, and said he performed music because it was the ultimate medium for expressions of love. We would like to thank all the kind folks at KGH and Sunnybrook, Gord's bandmates, management team, friends and fans. [28], Downie took to Parliament Hill on July2, 2017, to speak out for Canada's young Indigenous people, likening it to the same kind of pain young people suffered in the now defunct residential schools. Interiors remain as they were left and in some cases stocked with goods. "Rock 'n' roll is not unlike love," he told music writer Michael Barclay in 2000. His third solo effort, The Grand Bounce, was released in 2010. Gordon Edgar Downie was born in Kingston on Feb. 6, 1964, and spent his formative years in nearby Amherstview. It was a moment that helped Gord finally get at something that had been nagging at him for years. 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. Where some get lost. Gord was the fourth of five children . ", Audience Relations, CBC P.O. 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. He sang about Canada, but disavowed nationalism, his songs exploring heavy topics like David Milgaard's wrongful conviction (Wheat Kings) or Canada's treatment of First Nations (Now the Struggle Has a Name). Gordie doesnt like to be the centre of attention, added Lorna. Fans would often tear up at newly poignant lyrics written decades ago: "No dress rehearsal / This is our life" in Ahead by a Century and "I've got to go / It's been a pleasure doing business with you" in Scared. He listened to everything he could in his older sister's 45 collection, and used his allowance to buy records. Gord said he had lived many lives. Yeah, no more ads! Downie recorded the latter album, produced by Drew, across two four-day sessions in January 2016 and February 2017, with much of the final product assembled from first takes. 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. [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". The Secret Path began as 10 poems that Gord Downie wrote as he grappled with Chanie's story. lang and Neil Young, rapper Drake, and the rock group Rush, remembered Downie on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Even when he stepped outside the Tragically Hip, Gord Downie loved to make rock records, first and foremost. Usher was a 20-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. [9], Downie began pursuing a solo career with the release of Coke Machine Glow in 2001. And it seems like you get up there every single time and give it!. A man that was so proud of his children and his family. Downie "was a great communicator," Gold said. The album was scheduled for release on October 27th. But the new 150 years can be years of building an actual nation. 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. 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. Then came May 24, 2016, when the band announced Downie's diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. (He wasnt nominated at that years inaugural Griffin Prize for Poetry, but he did perform at the gala.) 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. Gord Downie Memorial site? To the best of my internet sleuthing, I was unable to find anything online directing me to the most appropriate place to do . He usually started with a "Hello," and often ended with a variation on "Good night, music lovers," but what would happen in between was anyone's guess. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. 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. However, the band never quite took. [63] The Toronto Maple Leafs honoured Downie with a moment of silence before their game on October 18, during which the retired-jersey banner for Bill Barilko whom Downie had written about in the Tragically Hip song "Fifty Mission Cap" was lowered from the rafters of the Air Canada Centre. His godfather was Harry Sinden, who was then a real-estate developer with Edgar, and who would go on to become the Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Boston Bruins and lead Team Canada to victory in the 1972 SummitSeries against the Soviet Union. [76] A different recording of "The East Wind" appeared on The Grand Bounce, and "At the Quinte Hotel" was previously released in video form, but never in an audio recording. Where some go to get lost. In 2014, Downie released an album with the Sadies called And the Conquering Sun. Downie was not able to attend the ceremony due to his illness which had not yet been made public. No one., Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer in December 2015, but didnt reveal his disease publicly until May 2016. [78] On September 21, it was confirmed that Away Is Mine, an album comprising the last songs Downie recorded in his lifetime, will be released on October 16. "It certainly took ahold of Gord, I think, because it's just so simple a boy trying to get home. He says that watching it stirs a mixture of sadness and pride. On that summer night in Kingston, the set list dipped back to the Hips first hit single, Blow at High Dough, the one that opens with the line: They shot a movie once, in my hometown. His movie, our hometowns: Downies lyrics imbued Canadas music scene with mystery and magic and presented it, poetically, to a wide mainstream audience. [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]. ~ MacKenzie Wilson HOMETOWN Amherstview, Ontario, Canada BORN February 6, 1964 Similar Artists Gord Downie & The Country of Miracles The Tragically Hip Hayden Joel Plaskett Rheostatics Dan Mangan Matthew Good Matt Mays Arkells Wintersleep The band even has its own postage stamp and a street named after it, Tragically Hip Way, in Kingston, Ont. [4][5] In Kingston, Downie attended the downtown high school Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, where other members of the Tragically Hip also attended. We are not the country we think we are. Garrett and his bandmates became invested in the fight against clearcutting in B.C.s Clayoquot Sound, and convinced the Hip to join them. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. He was 53. When you hear the songs, clearly it was affecting him. 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.