It was a farewell tour because of the public disclosure of Downie's illness, fans knew it was likely to be the band's last. It was brave, unusual and defiant in the face of a devastating disease.Īfter releasing Man Machine Poem, the Hip embarked on a brief but remarkable 2016 tour through Canada, culminating in that emotional Ontario display. #cdnpoli #ripGord /flj2A5AS0dĭuring his final months, Downie chose to say goodbye in his own unique way-and he let fans bid the beloved band farewell, too. Here is the Prime Minister's emotional reaction to the death of Gord Downie. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted about his sorrow-and teared up during an emotional tribute. The cancer responded well to treatment-radiation therapy, chemotherapy-but the prognosis was terminal. Downie had learned of the disease in late 2015, after suffering a seizure. When he announced in May 2016 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer, it was cause for national mourning. That performance-the stadium, the scream-held particular emotional weight because fans knew it was likely to be the Hip's farewell: Downie was sick. 1 on the country's charts.Īnd Downie, for more than two decades, occupied some mysterious sliver at the heart of Canadian identity. The band sold more records in Canada than any other Canadian band. The Tragically Hip was always a distinctly Canadian phenomenon, "one of those enormous entities that cannot be understood outside its homeland," as the Canadian writer Chris Koentges put it. Related: David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and the art of the farewell albumĪmericans could be forgiven for not understanding. (An estimated one-third of the Canadian population-nearly 12 million people-reportedly watched the event from afar.) And millions of Canadians shared in the grief. It was an extraordinary display of emotion and grief, not what one typically expects to find at a stadium rock show. He closed his eyes and screamed into the microphone. ![]() Downie, the group's frontman, trembled and wailed and filled up with tears. It was a deep, full-body wail-then another, and then another-during the final notes of "Grace, Too," the 1994 hit by his band the Tragically Hip. On August 20, 2016, Gord Downie stood onstage at an indoor stadium in Kingston, Ontario, and let out a scream.
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