Gord Downie, the co-founder, lead singer and co-songwriter for the immensely popular Canadian rock band, The Tragically Hip, passed away following his battle with cancer. He was 53. Downie was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an incurable form of brain cancer, after having a seizure in 2015. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Downie met his future band mates while still in high school. The Tragically Hip formed in 1983 as a cover band, and when the president of MCA Records saw them play at a Toronto bar, he offered them a record deal. While their debut album, 1989’s Up To Here, peaked at #9 on the Canadian album charts, their next six albums, and three later studio albums, all hit #1. The band also enjoyed moderate success in the US where Modern Rock radio helped build them a cult following. Downie released six studio albums as well, including Introduce Yourself, which me out 10 days after he passed away. It also reached #1 in Canada.
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Tom Petty, the iconic American singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer passed away peacefully following a massive heart attack he had suffered earlier in the day. He was 66. Born in Gainesville, Florida, Petty, like many kids his age, had his first rock and roll moment after witnessing Elvis Presley. But unlike other future rock stars, it wasn’t The King’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that changed his life forever – it was a more personal encounter. Turns out Petty’s uncle was working on the Presley film, Follow That Dream that was filming nearby, and he invited the 10-year-old down to the shoot. Petty was able to watch Presley up close and in person doing what he did best, albeit in an entirely different arena. He soon traded his slingshot to a buddy for some Elvis 45s, and he was on his way. Petty’s first band of note – that would reform for kicks in 2007 – was Mudcrutch, which he put together in 1970. Six years later, they morphed into Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. During the next several years, they released a series of hit singles and albums that appealed equally to the fans of the current “heartland rock” movement led by Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen, and the punk and new wave movements which were grabbing hold on the east and west coasts, as well as in the UK. Over the next four decades, Petty, both with the Heartbreakers and solo, sold upwards of 80 million albums, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. Throughout his career, Petty collaborated with many of the biggest names in music, perhaps most famously, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison as the Traveling Wilburys. This “supergroup” recorded two well-received albums together, 1988’s Vol. 1 and 1990’s Vol. 3. Others of note with whom Petty had memorable collaborations with were Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash, Dwight Twilley, and Del Shannon, whose career he revived in 1982 with the album, Drop Down and Get Me. In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while November, 2015 saw the much-lauded release of the best-seller, Petty: The Biography, by Warren Zanes. Around that time he partnered with SiriusXM on Tom Petty Radio, a channel devoted entirely to his music and the music he loved. By all accounts, he was very hands-on with it, making sure the content would be loved by his fans. On Monday, September 25th, 2017, the band played their last of three spirited shows at the Hollywood Bowl in their adopted hometown of Los Angeles, to cap off the hugely successful 40th Anniversary Tour – their longest in 15 years. One week later, Top Petty was gone.
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