Canadians across the country are mourning the devastating loss of The Tragically Hips front man Gord Downie.
he died Tuesday night at the age of 53 after a lengthy battle with an aggressive and incurable brain cancer called glioblastoma.
according to a statement made on the Tragically Hips website Gord passed away surrounded by children and family members.
It was discovered he had brain cancer after suffering from a seizure back in December of 2015 and wasn’t announced to the public until May of 2016.
Prince George was privileged to have hosted The Tragically Hip a handful of times in the northern capital.
Back in 1999 the CN Centre, formally known as the Multiplex, sold out all 5,500 seats in 19 minutes for the bands first ever appearance in PG.
CN Centre Glen Mikkelsen says he remembers when there was a campaign through 94.3 to convince the band to come to come to town.
“It was a fantastic success. So they campaigned to convince the band to come to PG, which they did. And there were people at that time lined up for tickets and they were lined up around the block over night for tickets and it was a full packed show.”
Prince George was able to book the band for their second last tour back in 2015.
A final tour was launched across Canada shortly after the public learned about Gords condition called “For Gord, and For All of Us” which made its last stop in the bands hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
Gord Downie was born on February 6th, 1964 in Amherstview, a community just outside of Kingston, where he would later befriended musicians he met while attending Kingston Collegiate and Vocational institute that later became The Tragically Hip.
The band quickly began to pick up fame after MCA Records President Bruce Dickson saw them perform at the Horse Tavern in Toronto and offered a record deal.
The Tragically Hip have won 16 Juno awards, the most any Canadian band has ever received, and has also been inducted into the Canadian music hall of fame.
Gord was married to Downie was married to Laura Leigh Usher who have four children between them.
Downie and Usher separated sometime before his cancer diagnosis.
In his last years here Gord advocated for the youth of Canada to reckon with the legacy of residential children schools, he was presented wit a star blanket by the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs assembly in Gatineau, Quebec back in 2016.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a statement today expressing his condolences
“On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to Gord’s family, friends, bandmates and crew members, and his many, many fans. He will be sorely missed.”
