![]() In the wake of his diagnosis with glioblastoma - an incurable form of cancer - the musician became a symbol of perseverance in the face of his mortality. He was 53.ĭownie died Tuesday night “with his beloved children and family close by,” the band said in a statement on its website Wednesday morning. To see more, visit XPN.TORONTO - Gord Downie, the poetic lead singer of The Tragically Hip whose determined fight with brain cancer inspired a nation, has died. And I want to say how much I will miss knowing we share a planet with him.Ĭopyright 2021 XPN. He was courage, personified, until his dying day. ![]() He wasn't afraid to play in front of millions of people when he was battling brain cancer. He wasn't afraid to go to the darkest parts of history, or sing of the smallest towns. Gord united Canada's most grizzled hockey fans and sensitive poets. But what will stand in my memory forever is the way he made the people around him want to be better, together. On a day like this, it's difficult to put into words what Gord Downie means to me. There are 23 songs and in Gord's words, "Each song is about a person." Gord was about people. His last album will come out in a couple of weeks. His latest album, 2016's Secret Path, told the heartbreaking story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old First Nations boy who escaped a residential school and died while trying to return to the family he was taken from. Gord used some of his last time on earth to shine a light on the hardships of Canada's indigenous First Nations people. But Gord Downie didn't believe in blind patriotism he believed in holding Canada and its leaders to account and challenging us all to be better. The Tragically Hip has been called Canada's house band. And this week, on the day we got the news that Gord had died, Prime Minister Trudeau said, while choking back tears, "We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it." Because that's how important Gord and the guys were to Canada. After almost three hours, when it was done, live on national TV Gord embraced each of his bandmates - all dudes - and kissed each one of them on the lips.Ĭanada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was there, wearing a Tragically Hip T-shirt. ![]() There were somber moments, too, but mostly strength and charisma. ![]() He was electric, he was funny, he danced, he wore shiny metallic suits and feather hats and a JawsT-shirt. Gord Downie's performance that night was absolutely magnetic. We passed a giant Canadian flag around, hand to hand it was like watching the wave ripple across an arena, but in slow motion. Ten minutes before the concert began, the entire arena spontaneously broke out singing Canada's national anthem. The feeling in the arena that night is hard to describe, but picture this: Bundle every emotion your favorite band has ever made you feel over the course of decades, multiply it by mortality, add the sum of one-third of the entire country watching that with you, and you might have an idea.
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