He was the son of Lorna (Neal) and Edgar Charles Downie, a travelling salesman, later a real estate broker and developer. Gord Downie, the lead singer of the Tragically Hip, died Tuesday night surrounded by his loved ones. [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. Were 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.. 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 Downie was given sufficient time to pen his own obituary, and that is exactly how it should be. 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. lang and Neil Young, rapper Drake, and the rock group Rush, remembered Downie on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 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. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. It was, in a way, a very Canadian approach to celebrity. Musician manager Jake Gold, who along with Allan Gregg gave the Hip members their first shot, told the authors of the book Have Not Been The Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985-95, about the Toronto show that won them and an ambivalent crowd over. But things were much quieter now. Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip (Photo by Aven Hoffarth) One of the best things about Gord Downie was his thoughtfulness. "Then for him to say, 'Look at this, this is our country too. [49] They had four children. It would be the last time. Paused. 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 final concert, in Kingston on Aug. 20,2016 was broadcast byCBC. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. 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. During their live shows, Downie would notably ad-lib lengthy stories in the middle of songs. But the bands greatest accomplishment may be transcending their status as a key Canadian cultural touchstone to an integral part of the countrys identity. I know an 85-year-old with boy trouble. In 1995, a particularly successful year for the Hip, the band opened for both Page and Plant and the Rolling Stones, and performed on Saturday Night Live. 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. The bands management broke the news just after the May long weekend in 2016, while simultaneously announcing a tour to promote the new album. [53], Downie was the godson of Harry Sinden, a former hockey coach, general manager and president of the Boston Bruins. It was passed in December 2019, establishing the Poet Laureate of Ontario. He clearly was so taken with it and couldn't let it go.". He called concert touring "grunt work," and talked about building the fan base one person at a time. "I think he really tried to put himself in those shoes and imagine what that was like," Mike says. [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. Then came Downie's diagnosis, which created a wave of nostalgia and celebration even as people prepared for his passing. No matter how opaque or directly critical of Canadian history he may have been, Downie faced a sea of literal flag-waving at almost every single showespecially at shows not on Canadian soil. "I really didn't know anything about them, to my shame. [34] The tour's final concert was held at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario, on August 20 and was broadcast and streamed live by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on television, radio and internet. During his final months, Downie chose to say goodbye in his own unique wayand he let fans bid the beloved band farewell, too. 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. 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. 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. [33], In December 2015, shortly after attending his father's funeral, Downie was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. [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. 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. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Record sales and radio play declined, though never precipitously enough to render the band irrelevant. It wasnt until the 1991 release of the bands second album, Road Apples, that Downie seized the lyrical reins entirely. "His main focus was the release of Secret Path," says Gord's brother, Patrick Downie. In 2014, Downie released an album with the Sadies called And the Conquering Sun. [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 remains of Bodie are being preserved in a state of arrested decay. To the best of my internet sleuthing, I was unable to find anything online directing me to the most appropriate place to do . SHAPIRO: In. 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. He was on a fishing trip. [14] Clockwise from left: Gord Downie, guitarist Gord Sinclair, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Paul Langlois and drummer Johnny Fay. He painted landscapes with his words, elevating Canadian geography, historical figures, and myths, Trudeau said on Wednesday. It was a Terry Fox story with a twist: a story where the protagonist completes his goal before the disease gets the better of him. GORD DOWNIE: (Singing) Sundown in the Paris of the prairie, wheat kings have all their treasures buried. or somewhat similarly minded mainstream artists like John Mellencamp. 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. As the Tragically Hip's lead singer and lyricist, Downie was the face and voice of a band whose discography sold more than eight million copies. "Patrick and I are comfortable with the word legacy. Lemire created a graphic novel inspired by Downie's songs, and its images were used to create the film. That's who influenced me as a poet.". Related [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. Gord Downie passed away a year ago on October 17, 2017. . Send us a tip using our anonymous form. 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. See where those sparks land. [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". Their self-titled debut EP arrived in 1987 while their first LP, Up to Here, followed in 1989. 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. Even when he stepped outside the Tragically Hip, Gord Downie loved to make rock records, first and foremost. In the middle of the set, Downie made a plea for reconciliation with Canadas Indigenous peoples, calling out the Prime Minister by name. Your father is now buried. When he wasnt doing that, he directed his attention to environmental issues, specifically those endorsed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a Canadian water charity run by an old Queens University classmate, Mark Mattson. ~ 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 And it seems like you get up there every single time and give it!. 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. Why a dying Gord Downie struggled to reveal 'The Secret Path' to Canadians | CBC News Loaded. Sit down. 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. [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. Solo albums were a pressure-release valve for Downie during the early 2000s, as the Hip became elder statesmen in danger of being taken for granted. He stoked the fire until sparks came out. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Following the release of Man Machine Poem and the Tragically Hips final concert, Downie continued to work. Kingston Transit buses displayed "GORD, WE'LL MISS YOU" on their electronic destination signs, alternately with the regular route number and name display. Fifty Mission Cap,for instance, recounts the story of Toronto Maple Leafs hero Bill Barilko, who died in a plane crash months after winning the Stanley Cup. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. This was a man inviting us to his own wake. Throughout the Nineties and into the Aughts, the Tragically Hip and Downie developed and expanded their sound. 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. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. Nickelback? 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). 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.". The Hip's final tour launched in Victoria in late July 2016, stopping in eight other Canadian cities, before wrapping up in front of an emotionally charged crowd in the band's hometown of Kingston about a month later. Downie also appears in the Trailer Park Boys movie The Big Dirty, in which he and Alex Lifeson play a pair of police officers. When you hear the songs, clearly it was affecting him. It's not very pleasant, but don't look away,' you know? [15] Downie also made a cameo appearance in the 2008 indie drama Nothing Really Matters, directed by Jean-Marc Pich. 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. Downie never sought to be iconic. in which the Tragically Hip are shown as a local band practising in the main character's garage. "The Barenaked Ladies? Gord Downie is definitely in the tradition of great Canadian poets, Dickinson told the National Post in 2016. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. 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. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its formation in 1984 until his death in 2017. Aided by teleprompters showing the lyrics, Downie pranced about the stage with his signature theatrical dance moves, though less kinetically than in the past. "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. 'Just seeing all those unguarded, real moments with Gord, that always just, that always gets me.'. Comments are welcome while open. Downie was born in Kingston and grew up in nearby Amherstview playing hockey and music. He says that watching it stirs a mixture of sadness and pride. [citation needed]. to catch the first shows of the tour, just in case he didnt make it home. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. "Rock 'n' roll is not unlike love," he told music writer Michael Barclay in 2000. Gordie doesnt like to be the centre of attention, added Lorna. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. As a musician, he lived the life for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. 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. [39] The album was accompanied by a graphic novel on which he collaborated with Jeff Lemire,[39] and an animated television film which aired on CBC Television. 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. Because of the feeling you get when you go up there. Roy Tee/Hollandse Hoogte/Redux Gord Downie, the lead singer for the beloved Canadian alt-rock. At the Assembly of First Nations in Gatineau, Quebec, on December6, 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. Several prominent Canadians, including actors Ryan Reynolds and Seth Rogen, Toronto mayor John Tory, singers k.d. His later solo records, including a rollicking, punkish 2014 album recorded with the Sadies, were remarkably conventional compared to Coke Machine Glow. Outside his work with the band, Downie released five solo albums his first, Coke Machine Glow, arrived in 2001 and collaborated with an array of artists including Buck 65, Fucked Up, Dallas Green, Alexisonfire and the Sadies. The people Ive met, theyre so beautiful.. The band never reached the same sales figures it did with its first four full-length albums, but continued to make music that was generally well-received by critics and selling at platinum or multi-platinum levels. [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. 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. That includes Downies specifically Canadian references, which were all but alien on radio playlists then (or now). 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. My name is Maurice Duplessis, as he did on the stage of Vancouvers Thunderbird Stadium on Canada Day, 1992. 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. Avril?". 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. It was a moment that helped Gord finally get at something that had been nagging at him for years. [4][5] In Kingston, Downie attended the downtown high school Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, where other members of the Tragically Hip also attended. On February 2, 2017, Downie joined Blue Rodeo onstage at Massey Hall for a performance of Blue Rodeo's song "Lost Together". [6] In 1986, Manning left the band as guitarist-vocalist Paul Langlois joined. The rest of the Tragically Hip were scions of the Kingston elitesons of doctors, deans, judges and popular teachers. And their support hasn't gone. In 2005, the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He cherished the anomaly; hed arrive on stage and say, for no discernible reason, things like Hello and welcome. 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. If the Tragically Hip frontman had to check out early as he did on Tuesday at 53 years of . The statement was released via the band's official Twitter. Those were the private reasons. The claims are located in Okanogan County, in Section 3, Township 35 N., Range 31 E. The state lease encompasses the south half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarter and the Lots 5 and . 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. Downie kept storytelling at the center of both records. Now, nearly a year after Gord Downie's death, his brothers Patrick and Mike are premiering a new CBC documentary they've produced Finding The Secret Path. Gord Downie, the lead singer for the beloved Canadian alt-rock bandthe Tragically Hip, died Tuesday at the age of 53. No one. 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. Their most recent album, Man Machine Poem, hit No. 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. CBC broadcaster and musician Tom Power called them "Canada's local band." Gord said he had lived many lives, they added. Then came May 24, 2016, when the band announced Downie's diagnosis of terminal brain cancer.

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