Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip has died.

[DocBrown]

http://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/18972/trag ... ie-dies-53

When his illness was announced last year, the national broadcaster, CBC, named Downie its newsmaker of the year. This in the year Leonard Cohen died remember. Outside of Canada his musical legacy is largely unremarked and unacclaimed.

His final album will be released October 27. R.I.P.

[DocBrown]

Goddamn autocorrect. How do you correct a thread title?

Edit: Thanks, Rob!

[jamieW]

Very sad news. I feel myself fortunate for having become acquainted with the Tragically Hip in 1995 during their performance of "Nautical Disaster" on SNL (which I've discussed before). Gord put everything he had into his performance that night, and I had a glimpse into how he approached life. To this day, it's still the best performance I've ever seen.

I was also fortunate enough to see the live stream of his final concert in Canada (thanks to DocBrown for letting me know about it). The Prime Minister was there, donned in a Hip t-shirt, and Gord not only performed his heart out for hours, including encore after encore (even as we could see he wasn't feeling well), but he engaged the crowd in a way I've seen from few artists. I could feel how he was the heart of Canadian music, and I wonder if any other artist has ever been as individually special to an entire country as Gord.

We've known this day was coming for quite a while, but it's never any easier. You'll be missed, Gord.

[Rob]

Goddamn autocorrect. How do you correct a thread title?

Just edit the first post.