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Gord Downie

Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and activist Gordon Downie is best remembered as the enigmatic frontman for beloved Ontario rock outfit the Tragically Hip. The band rose to power at the tail end of the 1980s and in the following decade became figureheads of Canadian modern rock with Downie's peculiar lyrics and powerhouse vocals at the forefront. He later mounted a career of his own with 2001's Coke Machine Glow and continued to issue the occasional solo record while maintaining his post with ever-popular Hip, whose records almost always occupied the nation's top chart position. In his lyrics, Downie often championed Canadian history and regional interests and staunch activism for environmental and Indigenous rights further bolstered his reputation as national treasure. Following a terminal diagnosis of brain cancer, he and the Hip launched a massive farewell tour of Canada and his subsequent death in 2017 was mourned around the nation. The Hip ceased making music without their leader, though posthumous solo releases like 2017's chart-topping Introduce Yerself and the 2023 Bob Rock collaboration Lustre Parfait kept Downie's spirit alive. Born February 6, 1964, Downie was raised in Kingston, Ontario where he met his future bandmates during high school at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Formed in 1984, the Tragically Hip spent several years gigging around Ontario before signing to MCA in 1987. The group rose to fame in the '90s, a decade during with every one their albums reached number one. As their singer and principle songwiter, Downie's lush and charming lyrical stories garnered the Hip many fans across the globe, though nowhere were they more popular than at home in Canada. In the new millennium, Downie used his time in between Hip releases to start a solo career. Released in 2001, Coke Machine Glow featured the talents of Josh Finlayson, Julie Doiron, Kevin Hearn, Steven Drake, and others who were credited as the Goddamn Band. Released in conjunction with Coke Machine Glow was a book of poetry and prose. A second solo effort, Battle of the Nudes, appeared two years later, and featured many of the same players (this time credited as the Country Miracles) as well as members of experimental blues-rock outfit the Dinner Is Ruined. After this, Downie resumed work with the Hip, who finished out the decade with three more chart-topping albums. During this period, Downie also experimented with acting, making cameos and small appearances in films like Nothing Really Matters, The Big Dirty, and One Week. Released in 2010, the Downie's next solo record, The Grand Bounce, featured production work by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, and in 2014 Downie collaborated with the Sadies on a joint album And the Conquering Sun. Already known for his environmental advocacy as a board member of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper organization, Downie later founded the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, which promoted reconciliation between Canada's indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. Chanie Wenjack was a young Anishinaabe boy whose 1966 death while trying to escape an Indian residential school was the subject of Downie's elaborate 2016 multimedia project, Secret Path. In additional to an album and dedicated tour, Secret Path also featured an animated film and a graphic novel. It would prove to be the singer's last solo project to be released during his lifetime. On May 24, 2016 Downie announced through the Tragically Hip's website that he had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. He continued to tour in support of the band's recently released 13th studio album, Man Machine Poem, culminating in a massive final concert at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston that was streamed and broadcast live on the CBC to an estimated 11.7 million people. Downie died on October 17, 2017 at the age of 53. The public outpouring of affection following his death was significant with poignant statements coming from all corners of the country, including a statement from prime minister Justin Trudeau, tributes at number National Hockey League games, a candlelight vigil in his hometown of Kingston. Released just weeks after his death, Downie's first posthumous solo album, Introduce Yourself, became his first solo chart-topper. Another posthumous solo album, Away is Mine, appeared in 2020 and featured songs recorded in July 2017, just months before his death. The next album out of the vault, 2023's Lustre Parfait, was a collaboration with Canadian superproducer Bob Rock.
© Timothy Monger & MacKenzie Wilson /TiVo
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