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Music

Tragically Hip Frontman Gord Downie Dies at 53

The news was confirmed according to a statement on the band's website Tuesday night.
Photo via Facebook

Gord Downie, the frontman of the legendary Canadian band The Tragically Hip has died. He was 53 and was surrounded around family and friends, according to a statement. Downie had been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer during the winter of 2015, though it was made public last year. Downie and the band performed the last show of their final concert run in Kingston, Ontario in August 2016.

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"Gord knew this day was coming," the band wrote in a statement on their website. " 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… on the lips," the statement said.

The Tragically Hip have numerous awards and accolades for their expansive career, including Group of the Year from the Junos in 1995, 1997, and 2017, as well as Album of the Year in 1997 for their record Trouble in the Henhouse. Downie himself was recently awarded the Order of Canada for his work on Indigenous issues. His last solo album, Introduce Yerself, is set to be released on Oct. 27 via Arts & Crafts.

You can read the full statement from the band below.