Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip has announced that its lead singer, Gord Downie, has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
In a letter posted early Tuesday morning to its web site, the band stated that despite the diagnosis, Downie, 52, will embark on a new national tour with the Hip, scheduled after the June 17 release of its fourteenth album, Man Machine Poem.
The full letter is below:
Hello friends.
We have some very tough news to share with you today, and we wish it wasn’t so.
A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Since then, obviously, he’s endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard.
In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we’ve been standing by him.
So after 30-some years together as The Tragically Hip, thousands of shows, and hundreds of tours… We’ve decided to do another one.
This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us.
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.
So, we’re going to dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet.
We hope you can come out and join us this summer – details and dates will be coming this week.
And we sincerely thank all of you, for your continued love and support,
Paul, GordD, Johnny, Rob, GordS
Below, the band’s latest single, “In a World Possessed By the Human Mind.” The new album was written and recorded prior to Downie’s diagnosis.
