His new solo album, Introduce Yerself, comes out on Oct. It was like he was determined to keep serving as a unifying force while nudging Canada in the right direction.
#GORD DOWNIE FAMILY LIFE FULL#
It was like Downie had discovered a kink in the space-time continuum and was operating at full speed for 60 hours per day. We should all be blessed with such grace, drive and selfless resolve. In the darkness, he found ways to keep creating in the light, to keep on loving and, ultimately, keep on giving. He was told the end is near and he somehow found new beginnings. What's amazing about these many lives, and the hard work he devoted to each, is the lack of compromise that defined them all. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. As a musician, he lived 'the life' for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. "His response was to spend this precious time as he always had - making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss. "Gord knew this day was coming," his family said in a statement on Wednesday. If anything, the frontman for the Tragically Hip shifted into overdrive as he led his beloved band on a final tour in 2016, filling stadiums and moistening eyes as the country started the grim ritual of mourning what we had not yet lost.ĭownie was dealt the cruellest of hands. Who will write the songs that cross generations and slice across geography? Who will be our poet laureate and history professor, our spirited raconteur and unflinching critic, our tour guide to the past and cultural voyager of the future?Įven after the diagnosis of glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that often leaves no margin of hope, Downie did not retreat to the shadows. Stolen from us at the age of 53, Downie is leaving when we need him most. Still, when the news broke on Wednesday morning and the country gasped, the heartache we felt last year after learning about his terminal brain cancer came rushing back. We already knew how this song was going to end. Members of Downie’s family will receive the Slaight Award May 9 in Toronto, during the annual Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards gala.Right until the end, Gord Downie never looked back. “His legacy continues to resonate through his music and lyrics and, most importantly, through the growth and enterprise of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund.” “Gord Downie was an inspiration to all Canadians,” Gary Slaight, CEO of Slaight Communications, said in a news release. The fund launched the Legacy Schools Program in 2018, which provides resources for students to learn the history of the residential school system and set up their own reconciliation projects.ĭownie also spent many years working with the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper environmental organization and supported other charities with his Tragically Hip band mates. Wenjack’s story also inspired Downie’s 2016 Secret Path album, accompanied by a graphic novel by Jeff Lemire and an animated film. The fund was established in 2016 in honour of the 12-year-old Indigenous boy, who fled a residential school near Kenora, Ont., and tried to walk nearly 600 kilometres home, dying of starvation and exposure along the way.
Before then, he passionately advocated for reconciliation between Indigenous and other Canadians, founding the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund with his brothers and Chanie’s family. The lead singer of the Tragically Hip died of brain cancer in October 2017 at the age of 53. Gord Downie will posthumously receive the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award for the work he did in the final years of his life on behalf of Indigenous Canadians.
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