The Tragically Hip Bio

The Tragically Hip are Gord Downie (vocals), Gord Sinclair (bass, vocals), Paul Langlois (guitar, vocals), Bobby Baker (guitar) and Johnny Fay (drums). The band formed int 1986 in Kington, Ontario. The Tragically Hip are centred around the band's lead singer : Gord Downie. Downie's vibrant displays of enthusiasm are what keep thousands of fans camping out overnight to get tickets. From his wacky hand gestures to his shaking of his bells, Downie continues to mesmorize the crowd even after 12 years of performing. Bobby Baker keeps the women screaming every night as he thrashes his shoulder length hair from side to side and whales away on his guitar. Gord Sinclair and Paul Langlois add to the band's musical arrangement with their well known harmony. Johnny Fay can always be counted on to keep a steady yet saucy drum beat. The Hip were labelled a rock/blues band with an influencial sound from "The Rolling Stones". The band's debut self titled album has now sold more than 250,000 copies. Their follow-up album "Up To Here" has sold more than 700,000 copies. The band has opened for band's such as "Rush" in Canada and "Blues Traveller" in the States. By the time the band's third release had surface they were loved by Canadians from coast to coast. "Road Apples" was a change for The Hip. It was their first release which featured a solid mix of classic Hip and some new mellow Hip. The album featured the first two of several songs about Canadian history. "Three Pistols" was a song about Tom Thompson, a famous Canadian impressionist. "Fiddler's Green" was a song about a little known street in Eastern Hamilton. The next 2 songs about Canadian history were featured on the band's fourth release, "Fully Completely". "Fifty Mission Cap" was the first hockey song the band released about Canadian hockey great Bill Birilko. "Wheat Kings", the very next track, is about the falsely accused David Milgard. After being proving innocent Milgard spent time with The Hip during ARA '93. The Hip were so inspired by Milgard's story that they had wrote a song about it. In 1994 The Hip released "Day for Night" which featured everything from "Daredevil"s to "Nautical Disaster"s. The band made a statement on this album with "Scared", a song about certain jobs becoming obsolete due to the computer age. Downie refers to this every time the song is played live. The much anticipated follow-up to "Day for Night" was titled "Trouble at the Henhouse". The band waited almost two full years to release their sixth album. It was worth the wait! "Ahead by a Century", the first single from the album topped the Canadian music charts in no time. Around the same time that "Trouble at the Henhouse" was released The Hip had taken an interest in Camp Trillium. Trillium is a camp located in Northern Ontario which is dedicated to providing a good summer for kids with cancer. The Hip decided to play a benefit show at "The Horseshoe" in Toronto that would serve two purposes. The first would be to give the band a chance to play all of their new songs live and see what needs work. The second would be to raise money for Camp Trillium. Since the band hooked up with Camp Trillium they have played seven gigs which have raised well over $250,000 for a great cause. Five of the seven benfit shows were in the summer of '98 prior to the release of their most recent album "Phantom Power". This album follows the band's live release entitled "Live Between Us", a show which was recorded live in Detroit. The Tragically Hip are still kickin' it harder than ever. They are truly the best band in the world.

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