Gord Downie, Tragically Hip singer, has terminal cancer

Gord Downie, the lead singer and lyricist oftheiconic Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip, announced Tuesdayhe has terminal brain cancer,but still plans to join his bandmates of more than 30 yearsfor a summer tour.

The band posted the news ofDownie'sillness on itswebsiteand the band managers released more details about it an aggressive, incurable form of cancer called glioblastoma at a news conference at Sunnybrook Hospital later in the day.

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Downie was diagnosed with the diseasein December and has since undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

"Since then, obviously, he's endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard," the band said in their letter to fans. "In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we've been standing by him."

Lots of love for Gord Downie

8 years ago

Duration 3:32

Canadians are sending messages of support to The Tragically Hip frontman, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer

Downie, 52,andLauraLeigh Usher have four children.

Despite the diagnosis, The Hipannounced it will "dig deep" and hit the road together this summer. The details of that tour should be released later thisweek, according to the band.

"This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us," group members said in their statement. "What we in The Hip receive, each time we play together, is a connection; with each other; with music and it's magic; and during the shows, a special connection with all of you, our incredible fans."

'I love this country'

The TragicallyHip's frontmanhas long established himself as one of the country's greatest songwriters, his lyrics giving a voice to Canada's land, its history and, at times,its official winter sport.

"You write about what you know," he told CBC's Wendy Mesley in 2012. "And I love this country. I love my idea of this country.

"Where I go and the people I've met, underlying everything is that commitment to finding the common good."

Hismusic has given him a chance to bear witnessto that, travelling from St. John'sto Attawapiskat First Nationto Vancouver since the Tragically Hip began playing the Kingston, Ont., bar scene in 1983.

Downieand The Hip now also includingGord Sinclair, Johnny Fay, Rob Baker andPaul Langloisswiftly ascended from playing cover songs for Queen's University students, following a gig at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern three years later.

That led to a record deal with MCA and the release of theself-titled 1987 EP, saysthe Canadian Music Hall of Fame, to which the group wasinducted in 2005.

Downie's evocative lyrics didn't break out intothe mainstream, however, until Up to Here,the group's first full-length album, was released in August 1989.

14 Junos

That album gave birth to the bluesy-rocksingle New Orleans is Sinking which claimed the No. 1 spot on the Canadian content chart and earned The Hip the first of its 14 Juno Awards. The Hipwon Most Promising Group of the Year in 1990.

The next three full-length studio albums Road Apples, Fully Completely and Day for Night cemented the band members'reputation as commanders in the Canadian rock scene, as they quickly graduated to arena-sized venues and were so popular they regularly hosted their own outdoor festival, Another Roadside Attraction.

The group hasbeen among a select few acts thatcould garner heavy airplay on both alternative and classic rock radio stations around the country. While Downie was adept at writing something universal like My Music at Work or more enigmatically in the case of Little Bones and Locked in the Trunk of Car, quite often the band's songs were infused with Canadiana the hockey anthem Fifty Mission Cap, the contemplative Bobcaygeon and Wheat Kings, in part about wrongfully convicted Manitoba native David Milgaard.

Fellow Kingston native Dan Aykroyd, former Saturday Night Live cast member, wasclad in a Canada sweatshirt when hefamously introduced the Tragically Hiponthe showin 1995 for the performance ofGrace, Too and Nautical Disaster.

'One of the most captivating frontmen'

Downie channelled his lyricism inward on the band's 2012 album, Now forPlan A, released a year after his wife was diagnosed withbreast cancer.

"The band, we rallied," Downie said in an interview on CBC's The Hour in 2012. "We're a big family and rallied around my wife, Laura, and helped her through it."

While the band has appealed to countless fans through their sound and the stories they've told through song, Downie's singular stage presence looms large.

The Hip's frontmancan turn a microphone into a bucking bronco in one minute and a fishing spear in the next, his inimitable footwork earning him a DoraAward for choreography.

Anyone who has ever seen Downie on stage is used to his perpetual handkerchief, both a prop in his elaborate ballet and a necessity given the stage lights, his energy and athleticism.

"His improvised antics are a major part of the show, completely transfixing the audience," the CBC's Jesse Kinos-Goodin wrote in 2013. "One performance and yet it yields, easily, 100 or more separate dance moves; such is the spontaneous genius of one of the most captivating frontmen in Canadian music."

Man Machine Poem

Although Downie hasalso produced three solo albums since 2001, as well as a collaboration with indie darlings The Sadies, his legacy is unquestionably tied to The Hip. The group also receivedthe Governor General's National Arts Centre Award.

Man Machine Poem, the group's13th studioalbum, will be released inJune, although the single In aWorld Possessed by the Human Mindhas already been released.

Performing for the band's legion of fanshas always been one of Downie's great loves, he's told the CBC.

"Enjoy those one-night moments.We'll only be here tonight, this bunch of us in this room,"he toldThe Hourin 2006. "Let's try and find some point of transcendence and leap together."