![]() Two of their four kids play on the album - 21-year-old son Lou on keyboards and drums and 26-year-old daughter Willo on vocal harmonies - realizing a shared goal she had with Downie of one day starting a family band. On "All This Is," credited to Kaya Usher and the Family Band, the Toronto musician finds her deep interest in meditation crossing paths with devotion to her children. The Tragically Hip frontman died in 2017 at age 53. Then, she witnessed Downie confront a terminal brain cancer diagnosis in 2015. ![]() Nearly a decade ago, the now 54-year-old faced breast cancer. Usher is bright and optimistic in a video conversation about the role music has played in her "healing journey" and how her album is about "coming into not only the grief but real strength" after a devastating loss. "Kevin and I plan on making a lot of music together," she said, musing on potentially working with a symphony or dabbling in experimental electronic music. 17 and its meditatively euphoric single "Heart Clicks" already available on streaming services, she's thinking about what's next with co-producer Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. With her debut album "All This Is" set for release Nov. Downie is survived by his wife and four children.More than four years after her husband Gord Downie's death, singer-songwriter Kaya Usher is in the midst of an artistic awakening. ![]() The band's 2012 album, "Now for Plan A," was lyrically influenced by Downie's wife and her successful battle with breast cancer.ĭownie also produced three solo albums since 2001, as well as a collaboration with fellow Canadian indie darlings The Sadies. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 14 Juno awards, the equivalent of the Grammy in Canada. Since then they have released 14 studio albums, two live albums, one EP and 54 singles. Their first self-titled EP was released in 1987 and their breakthrough debut full-length album, "Up to Here," was released in 1989. While at university, he met Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fray, and they formed The Tragically Hip, which started out as a cover band. He said his "Secret Path" project was aimed at Canada's decades-long government policy of requiring aboriginal children to attend residential schools, where physical and sexual abuse was often rampant.īorn in Amherstview, Ontario, Downie said he "always had a keen ear for music" and while all the other kids were spending their allowance on baseball trading cards, he was buying records "from the fathers of rock 'n' roll." But through it all, Downie remained the consummate showman, rocking out on stage in distinctive leather suits.ĭuring his final show, Downie called out to Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in Canada's aboriginal communities.Ī few months after that concert, Downie released a solo album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by the tragedy of state-funded church schools that Canadian aboriginal children were forced to attend from the 19th century until the 1970s. that he needed six teleprompters during the concert series so he would not forget lyrics. Millions tuned in.Īshlea Albertson, driver with Tony Stewart Racing, killed in highway crash in Indianaĭownie later told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. ![]() Tickets for the 2016 summer tour sold out almost immediately, culminating in a national broadcast of the band's final tour stop at Kingston, Ontario. That same day, the band said it would mount a Canadian tour despite Downie's cancer. When the band made the news public the following May, expressions of sorrow poured in from across the country. "There will never be another one like you, Gord, Rest in peace my friend," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.ĭownie was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, in December 2015. While Canadian musicians Drake, the Weeknd and Justin Bieber have made waves internationally, the Tragically Hip built a huge following of die-hard homegrown fans. "Ahead by a Century" and "Bobcaygeon" are among the best known. Since The Tragically Hip's first album in 1987, the band has provided a soundtrack for the lives of many Canadians. Gord Downie, who made himself part of Canada's national identity with songs about hockey and small towns as lead singer and songwriter of iconic rock band The Tragically Hip, has died at age 53 after a battle with brain cancer.Ī statement on the band's website said he died Tuesday night "with his beloved children and family close by." The statement did not give a cause of death, though he had been diagnosed earlier with brain cancer. ![]()
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