The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has dubbed Downie, 52, who is known for his profound lyrics and garish stage costumes, the nation’s “unofficial poet laureate”.
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Fourlas added he feels that in Canada the Tragically Hip should be held near and dear to everyone’s hearts.
Fans took to the Lakeside Ball Diamonds on the Nelson waterfront to take in the final Tragically Hip concert of the Man Machine Poem Tour.
On Twitter, the prime minister said: ‘On behalf of Canadians, I thank Gord Downie and the Hip for their decades of service to Canadian music.
For fans like Mitchell Pockett, who were not able to get tickets to see the band on their farewell tour, a get together like this is nice. “To say thanks, to say goodbye, to celebrate Canada’s band”, wrote the PM on a wall that was erected in Kingston for fans to leave messages. Known as the “most Canadian band ever”, The Tragically Hip started as a college group but went on to become one of the most successful band in the country. “He’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go”, he said. “The Hip is a Canadian treasure and I’m really going to miss them”.
Downie’s own history of advocacy includes serving on the board of environmental group Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, as well as performing concerts near the region of James Bay to raise awareness of First Nation issues.
Trudeau said he was wishing all week that he was in Rio for the Games, “but tonight I’m glad I’m in Kingston instead”.
“He’s going to be looking good for about at least 12 more years”.
Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer in adults and one with an average survival of less than 15 months after diagnosis. MCA Records president Bruce Dickinson snapped the band up after being wowed by a performance at the Horseshoe Tavern in 1986, although some critics at the time complained that the full energy of the Hip’s live show didn’t come through on this recording.
The band’s biggest hit closed the show, “Ahead By A Century”.
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Gord, who started the show wearing a metallic silver suit and hat with a Jaws T-shirt underneath, hugged and kissed his bandmates – guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay.
