![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
The singer and songwriter Gord Downie in 2016. After learning he had terminal brain cancer, he went on a final tour with his band, the Tragically Hip, and recorded a last solo album.
David Bastedo; thumbnail, Kevin Light/Reuters, 2016
Gord Downie
Died on October 19, 2017 at age 53
Mr. Downie, the lead singer and lyricist of the Tragically Hip, was one of Canada’s most revered rock stars. He kept performing after announcing in 2016 that he had brain cancer.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.