With seven solo albums to his name, Downie's own music refutes definition, renowned for its adventurous poetry . Downies on-stage improvisations were a principal part of the bands appeal from day one, though he was not yet a lyricist. [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. Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip (Photo by Aven Hoffarth) One of the best things about Gord Downie was his thoughtfulness. Most artists will hear crowds singing the first verse and choruses of their most popular songs; Downie routinely had audiences singing every single line in his discography back to him, no matter how arcane or untethered the lyric was to rhyme or meter, songs full of what songwriter John K. Samson calls beautifully meaningful non-sequiturs., The Tragically Hip, photographed in New York in February 1992. He eventually joined a band that did punk covers, and was in a group called the Filters. The band won its first Juno (Most Promising Group) on the strength of that album and solidified its hold on the Canadian music scene with the next three albums: 1991's Road Apples, 1992's Fully Completely and 1994's Day for Night, all of which went multi-platinum or diamond. Downie "was a great communicator," Gold said. Downie had an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, which he discovered after a seizure in December 2015. "I really didn't know anything about them, to my shame. When he spoke, he gave us goosebumps and made us proud to be Canadian. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. Aided by teleprompters showing the lyrics, Downie pranced about the stage with his signature theatrical dance moves, though less kinetically than in the past. 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. [49] They had four children. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Throughout his career, Downie seemed unfiltered on stage. (THE CANADIAN PRESS) Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman who united a diverse array of music lovers with his commanding stage. 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. Several prominent Canadians, including actors Ryan Reynolds and Seth Rogen, Toronto mayor John Tory, singers k.d. Kingston Transit buses displayed "GORD, WE'LL MISS YOU" on their electronic destination signs, alternately with the regular route number and name display. 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. Then he got up, silently, walked over to a pile of wood, picked up two logs, and returned to put them on the fire. 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. It was viewed by an estimated 11.7 million people. [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. "I think he really tried to put himself in those shoes and imagine what that was like," Mike says. Gordon R Downie (1899-1943) - Find a Grave Memorial Born in 1899 and died in 13 Oct 1943 Winnipeg, Manitoba Gordon R Downie Skip to main content Home Memorials Cemeteries Famous Contribute Register Sign In Register Sign In Memorial updated successfully. 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. It had more in common with Neil Youngs 1975 ramshackle fan favourite album Tonights the Night than, say, anything that would have a life on classic-rock-radio playlists. I know an 85-year-old with boy trouble. A man that was so proud of his children and his family. The rest of the Tragically Hip were scions of the Kingston elitesons of doctors, deans, judges and popular teachers. 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. Working with Gold and Gregg, the Hip signed a record deal with MCA that led to an eponymous 1987 EP, but the band didn't start to become a household name until 1989's Up to Here, which included the hits Blow at High Dough and New Orleans is Sinking, both of which still get heavy play on Canadian radio. Avril?". Their most recent album, Man Machine Poem, hit No. The poet whose metaphors had inspired generations of rocknroll fans had nothing more to saywith words, anyway. 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. He was the poet who once asked, When are you thinking of disappearing? On February 2, 2017, Downie joined Blue Rodeo onstage at Massey Hall for a performance of Blue Rodeo's song "Lost Together". 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. His death was announced in a statement from his family . [33], In December 2015, shortly after attending his father's funeral, Downie was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. 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. 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. Why a dying Gord Downie struggled to reveal 'The Secret Path' to Canadians | CBC News Loaded. The band even has its own postage stamp and a street named after it, Tragically Hip Way, in Kingston, Ont. [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. It was a rare piece of celebrity news about Downie, who had steadfastly shielded his four children and Laura Usher, his wife of 23 years, from the public eye; the lone exception was in 2012, when Downie talked openly about Ushers bout with breast cancer. Terfry composed the track and with the help of Charles Austen, his co-writer, decided Downie's vocals would be the best fit for their song. [10] 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. I don't pretend to understand it; it feels confusing and frightening and wonderful.". 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. 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. 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. [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. Gord Downie was born on February 6, 1964 in Amherstview, Ontario, Canada. 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. 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. The final concert was released on DVD under the title A National Celebration on December 24, 2017. He died of hunger and exhaustion trying to walk 600 kilometres home to the family he was taken from. Paul Langlois, the son of the school's gym teacher and football coach who Downie befriended in Grade 11, wouldnt join until a year later; by that time, Downie was studying film at Queens (mostly, I learned how to drink, he said of his time there). Visitors walk the deserted streets of a town that once had a population between 7,000 and 8,000 people. 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. A guerrilla act of love to show the rest of the country what strength and artistry, grace and humour the Cree possess." Downie was born in Kingston and grew up in nearby Amherstview playing hockey and music. In 2005, the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. A Kingston hospital diagnosed the 52-year-old singer with primary glioblastoma, an aggressive and terminal brain cancer. 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. 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. His family and managers said future releases are planned, including solo material and unreleased work with the Hip. Canadian rock legend Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip died at the age of 53 from brain cancer. No one., Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer in December 2015, but didnt reveal his disease publicly until May 2016. 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 said he had lived many lives, they added. Downie had cameo appearances in Men with Brooms, in which the Tragically Hip play a curling team. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time [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. "Who are you comparing us to?" Terfry collaborated with Downie on the song "Whispers of the Waves" off the album 20 Odd Years. The working men were going to work. "Patrick and I are comfortable with the word legacy. 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,. He clearly was so taken with it and couldn't let it go.". At Queen's University, Downie's alma mater, flags were lowered to half-mast following news of his death. Gord Downie, singer of The Tragically Hip, died of complications from brain cancer Tuesday night at the age of 53. Gord Downie, the lead singer of the Tragically Hip, died Tuesday night surrounded by his loved ones. Lets not celebrate the last 150 years, Downie told a Toronto audience last October. Thats what even newcomers discovered during the CBC broadcast of the Tragically Hips final show on Aug. 20, 2016, six months after Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Gord Downie Memorial site? Near the end of the CBC special, Chanie Wenjack's sister, Pearl, talks to the camera as she looks out over the woods. Edgar died in November 2015. 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. 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. Do the work. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. Colin James is also featured in the episode. It would turn out to be the last show of his bands 30-year, multi-million-selling, award-winning career, a fate many suspected at the time. [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] Poetry and pop music are not strangers, of course: just ask the committee who granted Bob Dylan the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. She's trying to come to terms with the fact that, after decades of neglect, her brother's story is getting a national audience. 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. The Hip, as they're often called, won 16 Juno awards (the most of any band) and received a raft of other honours, including the Order of Canada. Gord was the fourth of five children . You are sitting on a project that might change the cultural landscape of First Nations for decades to come . 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. The song "Goodnight Attawapiskat" from the album Now for Plan A was a result of this trip.[24]. [citation needed], Downie died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on October 17, 2017, at the age of 53 in Toronto. 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. [14] Then came Downie's diagnosis, which created a wave of nostalgia and celebration even as people prepared for his passing. "It certainly took ahold of Gord, I think, because it's just so simple a boy trying to get home. Gordon Downie was born in Amherstview, Ontario, and raised in Kingston, Ontario, along with his brothers Mike and Patrick, and sisters Charlyn and Paula. 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. His family released the following statement: Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family. He stoked the fire until sparks came out. He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer. 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. Garrett and his bandmates became invested in the fight against clearcutting in B.C.s Clayoquot Sound, and convinced the Hip to join them. 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. He also called Downie "the greatest frontman this country has ever produced.". [22], In February 2012 in Fort Albany, Ontario, Downie and the Tragically Hip played at the Great Moon Gathering, a yearly educational conference that takes place in various communities along Northern Ontario's James Bay coast. CBC broadcaster and musician Tom Power called them "Canada's local band." he asked an interviewer from the Toronto Sun. By 2016, when he released his Secret Path project to address the legacy of residential schools, he decided that his celebrity was now his best asset: he knew he had the countrys attention after the Hips farewell tour, and the reluctant nationalist used it to focus specifically on an issue he felt was a glaring stain that could not be washed out of Canadas history. He painted landscapes with his words, elevating Canadian geography, historical figures, and myths, Trudeau said on Wednesday. [34][35] Doctors at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre confirmed the same day that it was a glioblastoma, which had responded favourably to radiation and chemotherapy treatment but was not curable. He met his future Tragically Hip bandmates while attending. Trending When he finished, Gord Downie left an eternal flame. Gord said he had lived many lives. Create the spark. GORD DOWNIE: (Singing) Sundown in the Paris of the prairie, wheat kings have all their treasures buried. Last night, Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by, his familywrote in a statement. 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. 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. "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. 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. His family announced the news in a statement published on the Canadian band's . Our identity and culture are richer because of his music, which was always raw and honest like Gord himself. Because of the feeling you get when you go up there. The bands management broke the news just after the May long weekend in 2016, while simultaneously announcing a tour to promote the new album. A childrens choir sang The Stranger, the opening track from Secret Path. The Tragically Hip: 10 Essential Songs 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". He released his second solo album, Battle of the Nudes, in 2003 before returning to the studio with the Tragically Hip. Just a few close friends on a starry night in front of a campfire. Gord Downie, frontman of the Canadian rock band Tragically Hip, has died, his family said in a statement Wednesday. 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. 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. 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. Not a word. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. To testify one more time. 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. Even the most cursory walk through his discography showed a man wrestling with notions of mortality in his work for years. It was, in a way, a very Canadian approach to celebrity. Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by. Earlier this fall, Downie announced he had been working on another solo album, Introduce Yerself. Three days after the funeral, Downie had a seizure. This, it seemed, meant much more to him than the Hips final show or the Order of Canada or the millions of records he sold. Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy, ran away from a residential school in northern Ontario 52 years ago. 'Just seeing all those unguarded, real moments with Gord, that always just, that always gets me.'. Downie also made a cameo appearance in the 2008 indie drama Nothing Really Matters, directed by Jean-Marc Pich. During their live shows, Downie would notably ad-lib lengthy stories in the middle of songs. 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. It was passed in December 2019, establishing the Poet Laureate of Ontario. There was no left turn in Downies career greater than his first solo album, 2001s Coke Machine Glow, compiled of songs his Hip bandmates had rejected and works culled from an accompanying book of poetry by the same namewhich set sales records in a corner of the publishing industry where 10,000 copies might as well be 100,000. The Tragically Hip announced his diagnosis on their website on May 24, 2016. Nickelback? It's so important to the country that we get this right. When he first said they were going on tour, I said, Are you okay? 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. And their support hasn't gone. Upon hearing the news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a tribute statement on his official website. And all you hear are the rusty breezes pushing around weathervane Jesus. 1. [citation needed]. Their self-titled debut EP arrived in 1987 while their first LP, Up to Here, followed in 1989. I think thats all part of what appeals to Canadian fans. 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. 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. Tragically Hip front-man Gord Downie's brother Mike talks about the CBC documentary 'Finding The Secret Path.' to catch the first shows of the tour, just in case he didnt make it home. Its telling, though, that the album on which he makes the most Canadian referencesthe album on which one song starts with an actual loon callis also their most commercially successful: 1992s Fully Completely. CBC Television broadcast his solo Roy Thomson Hall concert of Secret Path on October 22. [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. His words and lyrics spoke to everyone, coast to coast and across the miles. Usher was a 20-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. In addition to the Tragically Hip's performance, Downie sang a song with a local band, Northern Revolution. Gord Downie is the late lead singer and songwriter of rock giants The Tragically Hip. And I'd hate for that to go away, especially with something that's so important, was so important to him. No one. "For Gord, his way of experiencing the world is to write about it. Months of craniotomies, chemo and radiation therapy followed. Canadian Icon Gordon "Gord" Edgar Downie February 6th, 1964 - October 17th, 2017 We lost a true Canadian icon, talented poet and musician. 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. Years later, when he decided to be more vocal, he made sure he did his homework, studying casework, speaking at hearings, relying on research and science rather than his celebritymuch like his old friend Sarah Harmer, another Waterkeeper supporter. No one. Copyright 2023 St. Joseph Communications. 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. Tragically Hip: Canada Waves Goodbye to a National Treasure. 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. If anything, the Hip's lack of success in the U.S. has only made Canadians more protective of them. 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. Bob Berg/Getty. Bellegarde also bestowed on Downie an honorary . They then honoured the 215 children who were recently found buried. Word of mouth about the band spread throughout Kingston and eventually to Toronto. Kevin Light/Reuters, I would get very jumbled emails when he was in treatment, or texts at odd hours of the night, says one former musical colleague. 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. 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. 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. I think rock 'n' roll is the same. He died Tuesday night surrounded by his children and family, according to a statement on the band's website. Both it and Battle of the Nudes are credited as Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles. 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. [20] With Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Downie helped work on a cause to prevent a cement company from burning tires for fuel. Lets celebrate our next 150 years.. "Ahead by a Century" was the single most-played song on Canadian radio on the day Downie's death was announced. Downie also appears in the Trailer Park Boys movie The Big Dirty, in which he and Alex Lifeson play a pair of police officers. "His big heart served him well," Patrick Downie said of his brother Gord. Following the release of Man Machine Poem and the Tragically Hips final concert, Downie continued to work. Create the spark. Gordie doesnt like to be the centre of attention, added Lorna. "Then for him to say, 'Look at this, this is our country too. All the while, he was writing and recording: with the Hip, keyboardist Kevin Hearn, avant-garde noisemakers Dinner is Ruined, and separate projects with producers Kevin Drew and Bob Rock. "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. A month later, Downie launched his Secret Path project. The group also has a Canadian Music Hall of Fame induction, a Governor General's Performing Arts Award, an honorary fellowship with the Royal Conservatory of Music and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. Downie could at least boast that he had a family connection to hockey royalty, in Sinden. Brad Wheeler tells his. 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. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. They picked up their first Juno award Most Promising Group of the Year in 1990. Nonetheless, someone piped up. [29], In May 2016, Downie and his bandmates received honorary degrees from Queen's University. 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. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. 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.
