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. Thank you for all the help and support over the past two years."Ĭandian celebrities like Seth Rogen and Matt Lashoff also shared goodbye messages for Downie.On August 20, 2016, Gord Downie stood onstage at an indoor stadium in Kingston, Ontario, and let out a scream. The band added, "We would like to thank all the kind folks at KGH and Sunnybrook, Gord’s bandmates, management team, friends and fans. "His response was to spend this precious time as he always had - 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." "Gord knew this day was coming," The Tragically Hip wrote in a statement on the band's website Wednesday. Downie reportedly died surrounded by his children and family. The Tragically Hip's frontman was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an incurable form of cancer, in December 2015. The statement addressed the late rocker's legacy in Canada as a musician and activist.ĭownie, 53, died from a battle with brain cancer Tuesday. Trudeau also issued a statement regarding Downie's death to his official website Wednesday. Trudeau concluded the press conference by offering up words in Downie's honor in French.
We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it." This is something that I've certainly drawn inspiration and strength from.
Trudeau added, "He knew, as great as we were, we needed to be better than we are, and that's why his last years were devoted to Chanie Wenjack and to reconciliation. "Our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had - and not just loved it in a nebulous "Oh, I love Canada" way - he loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life." Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone's friend," Trudeau said to reporters Wednesday. "We lost one of the very best of us this morning.
Trudeau said he initially thought could make it through the speech's entirety but claimed that it "hurts." The prime minister considered Downie to be a friend.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became teary-eyed as he spoke emotionally about late rocker Gord Downie at a press conference Wednesday.
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