Gord Downie, the poetic lead singer of the Tragically Hip whose determined fight with brain cancer inspired a nation, has died. He was 53.
Downie died Tuesday night "with his beloved children and family close by," the band said in a statement on its website Wednesday morning.
In the wake of his diagnosis with glioblastoma, an incurable form of cancer, the musician became a symbol of perseverance in the face of his mortality.