The Tragically Hip

A bona fide Canadian rock institution, the Tragically Hip formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984 and spent the next three decades toiling the country's modern musical landscape to emerge as award-winning national heroes whose farewell concert was attended by the Prime Minister. Gord Sinclair (bass, backup vocals) and Rob Baker (guitar) met at high school and played together in the Rodents before merging with Johnny Fay (drums, percussion), the late Gord Downie (lead vocals, guitar), and saxophonist David Manning in 1984. Guitarist Paul Langlois joined in 1986, with Davis Manning leaving the band that year, and after planting themselves firmly on Ontario's live music map, they caught the eye of then-MCA Vice President Bruce Dickinson who signed the nascent group up to a deal with the label. The band's first self-titled EP appeared in 1987 and a debut studio album, Up to Here, followed in 1989, which generated significant radio play and paved the way for their career-boosting breakout record, Road Apples, which featured "Fiddler's Green", a poignant tribute to Gord Downie's young nephew who died during the writing of the album. A flurry of chart-topping albums came next, including Fully Completely (1992), Day for Night (1994), Trouble at the Henhouse (1996), and Phantom Power (1998), with the latter picking up the 1999 Juno Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Album Design. The band also won the National Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in 1997. They went on to score a total of 13 number one albums and after getting inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002, spent the next decade strengthening their status across a string of talked-about albums, working with revered producer Bob Rock on 2006's World Container and 2009's We Are the Same, scoring their eighth number one for the latter. After taking a few years off, they re-entered the arena in 2012 with their 12th album, Now for Plan A, which they then followed up four years later with Man Machine Poem, produced by Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin. Gord Downie died on October 17, 2017 after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in December 2015. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is a fan of the band, paid tribute in a statement and press conference. A National Celebration, a concert film of the Tragically Hip's final show, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 8, 2017. In 2021, the band released Saskadelphia, an EP containing previously unreleased Road Apples tracks. That same year, they were given the Juno Humanitarian Award.