IMPACT OF THE TRAGICALLY HIP: 1)The Tragically Hip, Feist enter Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame; 2)How seeing a Tragically Hip show in the ’90s changed Raine Maida’s aspirations

1)The Tragically Hip, Feist enter Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kaitlyn McGrath, September 27, 2026

Paul Langlois, left to right, Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip speak after being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on stage in Toronto, on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

The memory of the late Gord Downie was in sharp focus as the Kingston alt-rock band The Tragically Hip were among four musical acts inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at a star-studded gala held at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Saturday night.

As members of The Tragically Hip took the stage to accept the honour, the band paid tribute to their bandmate, who died in 2017 after he was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of brain cancer.

Guitarist Rob Baker shared a message he said was from Downie, “who couldn’t be here.”

“I stood before the songwriters’ cabal, bearing gifts of drugs and alcohol. That’s not enough, and that’s not all. Wait over there until your numbers called. I stood before the songwriters’ cabal, all wide-eyed and enthralled, just to be included at all,” said Baker, who stood on stage alongside his bandmates Gord Sinclair and Paul Langlois.

The Hip entered the 2026 class along with Toronto indie music pioneer Feist, the songwriting duo behind rock band Loverboy, Mike Reno and Paul Dean, and French-Canadian artist Roch Voisine.

The inductees’ beloved songs provided the soundtrack for the evening that had the crowd tapping their feet, clapping their hands and dancing in their seats as performers, including Finneas, Our Lady Peace and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and others who took the stage for the genre-spanning tributes that covered arena rock to indie pop to love ballads.

As the tribute to the Hip closed out the night’s ceremonies, a purple feathered hat hung on a microphone stand on stage, a nod to Downie’s eclectic fashion. Allison Russell, who was among the artists performing the Hip’s music, blew a kiss to the mic stand as she began “Wheat Kings,” then ended the song by saying, “We will always love you, Gord.”

Baker said in his speech that the band had been thrilled “to have such a great frontman.”

“I remember taking (bassist) Gord Sinclair down to see him at a place in Kingston, saying, ‘You’ve got to see this guy, we’re going to stand on his coattails and ride them,’” said Baker in his speech, which also noted the Hip’s practice of sharing songwriting credit among all the band members.

Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles songwriter and producer Finneas inducted Leslie Feist. The brother of Billie Eilish told a charming story about a chance meeting with the Toronto singer-songwriter at an airport in 2018 before calling her an “incredibly important, inspiring figure in my life,” said Finneas, who later performed her 2007 song “My Moon My Man.”

As she accepted her accolade on stage, Feist told the crowd, “talking is harder than singing for me” before launching into a speech that detailed how the 50-year-old musician used songs to process the ebbs and flows of her life.

“If all of the messy and meaningful and honest work can eventually lead anyone to a moment like this, then that’s how I figured out how to stand here and genuinely from my heart say thank you,” said Feist, who received video messages from notable figures such as Sam Smith, Joe Jonas, Olivia Rodrigo and director Jacob Tierney, whose hit TV show “Heated Rivalry” featured two Feist songs.

Among the evening’s many captivating performances was Tweedy, who host George Stroumboulopoulos introduced as one of the best living songwriters. The Wilco frontman sang a heartfelt cover of Feist’s mournful song “The Park.”

Earlier, Canadian songstress Amanda Marshall opened the show with a booming rendition of Loverboy’s 1980 hit “Turn Me Loose” that had the audience up from their seats immediately, while Toronto folk singer Charlotte Cornfield followed with a smooth and soulful performance of Feist’s “How Come You Never Go There.”

Later, the Ottawa-based musician Talk, wearing a fitted baby blue jumpsuit with fringed sleeves, rocked the venue with a high-energy cover of Loverboy’s classic hit “Working for the Weekend,” earning him a standing ovation.

The night also included notes of Canadian pride. Jim Vallance, inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside songwriting partner Bryan Adams in 2022, began his tribute to Loverboy by saying he was “so proud to be Canadian” and pointed out that the nation punched above its weight in producing great musicians.

Dean, Loverboy’s guitarist, accepted the honour on behalf of himself and lead singer Reno, who could not attend. Dean also thanked the other members of the band, including former bassist Scott Smith, who died in 2000 following a boating accident.

Other highlights included Olympic hockey gold medallists Laura Stacey and Marie Philip-Poulin, who inducted Voisine and noted the 63-year-old’s time playing hockey before he took up music.

Voisine said in his speech he started writing songs only for himself. But while studying at the University of Ottawa, he’d practice his songs in his residence’s stairwell and later learned fellow students would study along with his music.

Following his bilingual speech, in which he thanked his family and songwriting collaborators, Voisine performed an emotional, choir-backed duet of his ballad “I’ll Always Be There” with French-Canadian artist Isabelle Boulay.

Beloved Canadian alt-rock band Our Lady Peace closed out the show with a high-octane cover of the Hip’s “Locked in the Trunk of a Car.”

Lead singer Raine Maida shared how watching a performance by The Tragically Hip when he was 18 inspired him to chase art over entertainment.

Before beginning the song, he told the crowd to get on their feet.

“And light your phones up for Mr. Gord Downie.”

2)How seeing a Tragically Hip show in the ’90s changed Raine Maida’s aspirations

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kaitlyn McGrath, September 26, 2026

When Raine Maida was trying to break into the music scene more than 30 years ago, he says he bought tickets to the Toronto Music Awards at Massey Hall, in hopes he could use the event to network with industry folks.

But the night didn’t unfold as expected. Rather, the Our Lady Peace frontman said he thought the performances weren’t great and left him uninspired. He was ready to leave, but decided to watch the final act.

That’s when the Tragically Hip stepped on stage.

Maida said he watched as lead singer Gord Downie and the band commanded the show with an authenticity and a nod to poetry that he hadn’t seen from the other artists that night.

The Hip’s 1988 performance at the awards show is part of the band’s lore, as members have described the night as “disastrous” but it led to them being signed.

At the time, Maida says he thought to himself: “That’s the connection I want to be able to make someday.” He left the concert venue and ripped up a potential record deal that he said now would have been “the worst deal in the world” and listened to more music by the Hip.

Today, the 56-year-old Toronto-born singer said that night remains a seminal moment that impacted the trajectory of his career, which spans more than three decades and includes over 10 albums with his band and as a solo artist.

“That performance by the Hip gave me enough stock to be like, OK, slow this down. We’re not just chasing getting a record deal, we are trying to chase the art first and then the things will come, hopefully. That’s how I started to think when I left there,” said Maida, who later wrote the song “Ballad Of A Poet” about watching Downie and the Hip perform that night.

Now, Maida will come full circle as Our Lady Peace will perform a tribute to the Tragically Hip when the Kingston band is inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on Saturday during a gala held at Massey Hall.

Maida said he’s had many amazing career moments, but “this is up there.”

“Getting to honour literally one of my favourite bands and favourite singers, now that you’re making me, like, talk about it, actually I’m starting to get nervous,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hip guitarist Rob Baker has had months to absorb the news that the band will be inducted alongside Toronto indie pioneer Feist, Mike Reno and Paul Dean of Loverboy and French-Canadian singer-songwriter Roch Voisine.

But Baker still said it’s “surreal” to join a Hall of Fame that includes artists the band admired, including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Rush.

The 64-year-old said it’s also special to go in as a band, since songwriting credits on the Hip’s music were shared among the group.

Of course, there is a bittersweet note to the festivities for Baker and his bandmates as well, because Downie, who died in 2017 after he was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of brain cancer, won’t be there with them. But Baker said their songs remain the group’s “lasting testament.”

“We wrote these songs and we wrote them collectively and they go out there like our kids,” he said. “We have hundreds of little kids that went out. Some of them were ne’er do wells, never to be heard from again. And some of them have taken up residence with people and they’ve gone on to storied careers of their own. That’s really nice. It’s gratifying to sit back and watch what your kids go on and do.”

Baker said the Hip, whose hits include “Ahead by a Century,” “Bobcaygeon” and “Fifty-Mission Cap,” often wrote songs during jam sessions, passing a guitar around a circle, trying to impress someone else in the group.

“If they were impressed and maybe they got excited about the song, then someone else got excited and it would snowball,” he said.

Baker has fond memories of how their songs came together, he said, including one especially productive session at Convocation Hall at Queen’s University where they were rehearsing before recording their 1991 album “Road Apples.” In one day, the Hip wrote about four songs that all ended up on the record, Baker said, including “Long Time Running.”

Maida praised the Hip’s lyricism, which often includes references to history, Canadian landmarks and imagery, and unique turns of phrase. Maida said sometimes the phrasing felt “unfinished” which allowed a listener to make their own conclusions.

“It’s not just packaged so properly that it’s, like, ‘Oh, that’s what it is,'” Maida said. “Gord always allowed you to get inside those songs with him and see things.

“I think the idea of him putting you in a time and a place where it’s like, ‘Oh, I can smell where he is, I can feel that, I could see it,’ whether I’m sitting at a kitchen table. It’s those kind of nuances that Gord had that are truly special,” he said.

As Our Lady Peace’s success grew across Canada, Maida said they had the chance to play shows with the Hip, which shifted his relationship from strictly a fan to a peer.

“I love their music, but it’s so much deeper now being an artist and being a peer,” said Maida, who has covered his favourite Hip tune “Locked in the Trunk of a Car” with Our Lady Peace.

Baker said it’s an honour to know Maida was inspired by a Hip performance.

“These moments can mean a lot, if they hit at the right time,” Baker said.