The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie Diagnosed With Cancer; Band Plans Summer Tour

Yesterday morning the music world received heart shattering news, Mr. Gord Downie of legendary Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

The band posted the following letter on their web page and social feeds:

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

This morning fans awoke to the details of that Canadian summer tour, set to be called the Man Machine Poem tour.

These shows are sure to be wrought with emotion.

If you have never seen the band, you need to get out and see these shows. If you have seen the band, then you are probably already planning to buy your ticket.

The Tragically Hip are a staple in Canadian culture, they are the musical voice of our country. Very few things make us feel patriotic, but The Hip are definitely one of those things.

Tickets for the Man Machine Poem Tour will go on sale to the general public on Friday, June 3 at 10am at www.livenation.com. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Tuesday, May 31 at 10am local time through Thursday, June 2 at 10pm. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Sunnybrook Foundation.

Here is the full listing of dates: