Gord Downie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gord Downie CM
Downie performing in Guelph, Ontario in 2001
Background information
Birth name	Gordon Edgar Downie
Also known as	Gord, Downie, Wicapi Omani
Born	(1964-02-06)February 6, 1964 Amherstview, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Died	October 17, 2017(2017-10-17) (aged 53) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Musician singer lyricist
Instruments	Vocals guitar harmonica drums
Years active	1983–2017
Associated acts	The Tragically Hip the Country of Miracles The Sadies

Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer, songwriter, and musician. He was also a writer and an activist. Gord Downie was best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the famous Canadian rock band, The Tragically Hip. He led the band from its start in 1984 until he passed away in 2017. Many people consider him one of the most important and loved artists in Canadian music history.

Downie released seven solo albums during his career. Two of these albums came out after his death. His albums include Coke Machine Glow (2001) and Battle of the Nudes (2003). He also released The Grand Bounce (2010) and And the Conquering Sun (2014). His last two albums were Secret Path (2016) and Introduce Yerself (2017). The album Away Is Mine (2020) was released after he died. Introduce Yerself was his first album to reach number one on the music charts. His family and managers have said that more music, both solo and with The Tragically Hip, might be released in the future.

Early Life and Education

Gordon Edgar Downie was born in Amherstview, Ontario. He grew up in Kingston, Ontario, with his brothers Mike and Patrick, and his sisters Charlyn and Paula. His parents were Lorna and Edgar Charles Downie. His father worked as a traveling salesman and later as a real estate agent.

Gord went to Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KCVI) for high school. Other members of The Tragically Hip also went to this school. In high school, Gord was the lead singer for a band called The Slinks. They played at the KCVI Variety show. After high school, Downie studied film at Queen's University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in 1986.

Gord Downie's Music Career

Forming The Tragically Hip

In 1984, when he was 20 years old, Gord Downie started The Tragically Hip. He formed the band with Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay, and saxophonist Davis Manning. In 1986, Manning left the band, and Paul Langlois joined as a guitarist and singer. At first, the band played cover songs by popular British rock groups from the 1960s. They liked bands like The Yardbirds and The Rolling Stones.

The Tragically Hip quickly became famous. Bruce Dickinson, who was the president of MCA Records, saw them play. He offered them a record deal after seeing them at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.

Starting a Solo Path

Gord Downie began his solo music career in 2001. He released his first solo album called Coke Machine Glow. At the same time, he also published a book of poetry and stories with the same title. Musicians from the band The Dinner Is Ruined, Josh Finlayson of Skydiggers, and singer-songwriter Julie Doiron helped him with this album.

He released his second solo album, Battle of the Nudes, in 2003. After that, he went back to working with The Tragically Hip. His third solo album, The Grand Bounce, came out in 2010. Both The Grand Bounce and Battle of the Nudes were credited to Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles.

Downie performing in 2013

Working with Other Artists

Besides his own solo work, Gord Downie also worked with many other Canadian and international artists. He collaborated with Buck 65 (Richard Terfry), Dallas Green from City and Colour, and the Sadies. Buck 65 and Downie worked together on the song "Whispers of the Waves."

In 2008, Downie sang as a guest on City and Colour's song "Sleeping Sickness." In 2014, Downie released an album with the band The Sadies called And the Conquering Sun. He enjoyed working with them, saying it was a "whole other universe." He wrote the lyrics while they wrote the music.

Gord Downie's last public performance was on February 2, 2017. He joined Blue Rodeo on stage at Massey Hall to sing their song "Lost Together."

Gord Downie in Movies and TV

Gord Downie also appeared in some movies and TV shows. He had small roles in the movie Men with Brooms, where The Tragically Hip played a curling team. He also appeared in the 2008 movie Nothing Really Matters.

Downie was in the Trailer Park Boys movie The Big Dirty. In this movie, he and Alex Lifeson played police officers. He also appeared in an episode of the Trailer Park Boys TV show. Downie was featured in the sitcom Corner Gas in an episode called "Rock On!" The Tragically Hip were shown as a local band practicing in the main character's garage.

A documentary film about The Tragically Hip's farewell concert tour in 2016 was released. It was called Long Time Running. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017.

Gord Downie's Activism

Caring for the Environment

Gord Downie was very involved in protecting the environment. He especially cared about issues related to water. He was a board member of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. With this group, Downie helped stop a cement company from burning tires for fuel. He was also part of the Swim Drink Fish Music club. This project brings artists and environmentalists together to raise money for water protection groups in Canada.

The Great Moon Gathering

In February 2012, Downie and The Tragically Hip played at the Great Moon Gathering. This event takes place every year in communities along Northern Ontario's James Bay coast. It focuses on youth learning and combining Cree education with modern ideas. The band played in a small venue, which was unusual for them. Author Joseph Boyden invited them. He said their goal was to show love and support for the Cree people. Downie also sang with a local band called Northern Revolution. The song "Goodnight Attawapiskat" was inspired by this trip.

Supporting Indigenous Peoples

On October 13, 2016, Gord Downie and his brother Mike, along with the Wenjack family, started the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund. This fund helps bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples together. It is part of Downie's lasting commitment to Canada's First Peoples. Chanie Wenjack was a young Indigenous boy who died trying to escape a residential school. Chanie's story became the focus of Downie's Secret Path project. The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund is a registered charity.

On December 6, 2016, National Chief Perry Bellegarde honored Downie. He gave Downie an eagle feather at the Assembly of First Nations in Gatineau, Quebec. An eagle feather is a symbol of the creator. Bellegarde also gave Downie an honorary Indigenous name, Wicapi Omani. This name means "man who walks among the stars" in the Lakota language.

Downie spoke on Parliament Hill on July 2, 2017. He spoke about the pain young Indigenous people faced. He compared it to the pain suffered in the now-closed residential schools.

Awards and Recognitions

In May 2016, Downie and his bandmates received honorary degrees from Queen's University. Downie could not attend the ceremony because he was ill. His illness had not yet been made public.

On December 22, 2016, Downie was chosen as The Canadian Press's Canadian Newsmaker of the Year. He was the first entertainer to receive this title. In December 2017, Downie was again named Canadian Newsmaker of the Year. This was in recognition of how the public reacted to his death.

Downie and his bandmates were appointed as Members of the Order of Canada on June 19, 2017. This award recognized their contributions to Canadian music. It also honored their support for various social and environmental causes.

In December 2017, Percy Hatfield, a Member of Provincial Parliament, introduced a bill. It was called Poet Laureate of Ontario Act In Memory of Gord Downie. This bill was passed in December 2019. It created the position of Poet Laureate of Ontario.

Health and Farewell Tour

In December 2015, Gord Downie was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. The Tragically Hip announced his diagnosis on their website on May 24, 2016. Doctors confirmed it was a glioblastoma. This type of cancer had responded to treatment but was not curable.

Downie went on the Man Machine Poem Tour with the band in the summer of 2016. This tour supported the band's 13th album, Man Machine Poem. The final concert was held in Kingston, Ontario, on August 20. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcast the concert live. About 11.7 million people watched it.

The 2017 documentary film Long Time Running showed the tour. The final concert was released on DVD as A National Celebration in December 2017.

Secret Path Project

In September 2016, Downie announced a new solo album called Secret Path. It was released in October. The album came with a graphic novel that Downie created with Jeff Lemire. An animated TV film also aired on CBC Television. Downie performed a few live shows to support the album. He was joined by musicians like Kevin Drew and Josh Finlayson.

At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, Downie won two awards for the TV version of Secret Path. The program won for Best Political or Social Documentary Program. It also won for Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program. In 2019, two more awards were won by Gord Downie's Secret Path in Concert. This was the CBC Television broadcast of Downie's 2016 performance of the album.

Introduce Yerself Album

In September 2017, Downie announced his last solo album, Introduce Yerself. It was a double-album and was released on October 27, 2017. This was ten days after Downie's death.

At the Juno Awards of 2018, the album won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Downie and Kevin Drew won Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year for songs like "A Natural" and "Introduce Yerself." Downie also won the Juno Award for Artist of the Year. To honor Downie at the Juno Awards, Sarah Harmer, Dallas Green, and Kevin Hearn performed a mix of the album's title track and the Tragically Hip song "Bobcaygeon."

Personal Life

Gord Downie was married to Laura Leigh Usher. They had four children together. Laura Leigh Usher is also a breast cancer survivor. Downie and Usher remained close friends. Laura Leigh Usher later released her own music album in 2021. Two of their children helped with the album. Some songs feature Usher playing a guitar that belonged to Downie.

Downie's godfather was Harry Sinden. Harry Sinden was a former hockey coach and manager for the Boston Bruins.

Death and Public Reaction

Gord Downie passed away from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. He died on October 17, 2017, in Toronto, at the age of 53.

After hearing the news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement. He later held a press conference and spoke tearfully about Downie. He remembered Downie as "Our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had." He said Downie loved "every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country." Canadian MP Tony Clement suggested a state funeral for Downie. The House of Commons held a moment of silence.

Many Canadians mourned Downie's death. The CBC news show, The National, spent 40 minutes talking about Gord and The Hip. Many famous Canadians shared their memories on social media. These included actors Ryan Reynolds and Seth Rogen, Toronto mayor John Tory, singers k.d. lang and Neil Young, rapper Drake, and the band Rush. Several National Hockey League teams and players also paid tribute. The Toronto Maple Leafs held a moment of silence before their game. They lowered the retired-jersey banner for Bill Barilko, who Downie wrote about in the song "Fifty Mission Cap."

People in the Ontario village of Bobcaygeon held a candlelight vigil for him. Downie had written about this village in his song "the song of the same name." A large gathering also took place in Kingston, the band's hometown.

In Kingston, Mayor Bryan Paterson issued a statement. He laid a wreath and signed a condolence banner. Kingston Transit buses displayed "GORD, WE'LL MISS YOU" on their signs.

Canadian radio stations played a lot of The Tragically Hip's music. On October 18, the band's radio airplay increased by 1,500 percent. Most rock radio stations played only Tragically Hip songs for the day. Some even continued this for the weekend. Several stations temporarily changed their names to "Gord FM." Even stations that played other types of music added Tragically Hip songs. "Ahead by a Century" was the most-played song on Canadian radio that day.

CBC Radio changed its regular programs to air a tribute special for Downie. The show Q also changed its lineup for a live tribute.

After Downie's death, CTV moved up the broadcast of Long Time Running. This documentary about the Man Machine Poem Tour aired on October 20. CBC Television broadcast his solo concert of Secret Path on October 22.

Arjun Sahgal, a doctor who treated Downie, praised his strength. He said Downie was brave to continue touring and making music. He used his fame to raise awareness for cancer and Indigenous issues. Sahgal called Downie "a Terry Fox in the modern day."

Posthumous Music Releases

After Gord Downie's death, some of his unreleased music was shared. In 2018, two songs by Downie, "The East Wind" and "At the Quinte Hotel," were released. They were on a collection album called The Al Purdy Songbook. A different version of "The East Wind" was on The Grand Bounce. "At the Quinte Hotel" had been seen in a video before but not as an audio recording.

In June 2020, The Tragically Hip and their manager announced they were looking through the band's old music and items. They planned to release more in the future.

In August, Downie's Twitter account became active again. It posted photos of handwritten song lyrics. These posts seemed to count down to October 15. On September 21, it was confirmed that Away Is Mine would be released. This album contains the last songs Downie recorded. It was released on October 16. Downie co-wrote the album with Josh Finlayson. The album also includes acoustic versions of all the songs. Canadian artists created music videos for all the songs, which were released on YouTube.

In October 2022, a song called "Lustre Parfait" was released. This was a preview of an album of unreleased songs Downie recorded with Bob Rock. The album, also called Lustre Parfait, is set to be released in May 2023.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

• Our Power (2006): "Figment (Acoustic version)"

Singles

• "Vancouver Divorce" (2001)
• "Chancellor" (2001)
• "Pascal's Submarine" (2003)
• "Figment" (2003)
• "Sleeping Sickness" by City and Colour (2008)
• "The East Wind" (2010)
• "The Dance and Its Disappearance" (2010)
• "Crater" (with the Sadies) (2014)
• "The Stranger" (2016)
• "Introduce Yerself" (2017)
• "Hotel Worth" (2020)
• "Lustre Parfait" (2022)
• "The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk" (2022)

Music videos

• "Chancellor" (2001)
• "Pascal's Submarine" (2003)
• "11th Fret" (2003)
• "The East Wind" (2010)
• "Crater" (2014)
• "The Stranger" (2016)
• "Secret Path" (documentary and full animated film) (2016)

Music videos for Away is Mine (2020)

• "Hotel Worth"
• "Useless Nights"
• "I Am Lost"
• "About Blank"
• "River Don't Care"
• "The Least Impossible"
• "Traffic Is Magic"
• "Away Is Mine"
• "No Solace"
• "Untitled"

Images for kids

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  Downie performing in Guelph, Ontario in 2001

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  Downie performing in 2013

See also

In Spanish: Gordon Downie para niños