Frontman of rock band Tragically Hip

Born: February 6, 1964;

Died: October 17, 2017

GORD Downie, who has died of brain cancer aged 53, was the frontman of the Canadian rock band Tragically Hip who made himself part of the country's national identity with songs about hockey and small towns.

While Canadian musicians Drake, the Weeknd and Justin Bieber have made waves internationally, the Tragically Hip built a huge following of die-hard homegrown fans - their albums Ahead By A Century and Bobcaygeon are among the best known

Downie was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, in December 2015. When the band made the news public the following May, expressions of sorrow poured in from across the country.

The same day, the band said they would mount a Canadian tour despite Downie's cancer. Tickets for the 2016 summer tour sold out almost immediately, culminating in a national broadcast of the band's final stop at Kingston, Ontario.

Downie later said that he needed six teleprompters during the concert series so he would not forget lyrics, but through it all he remained the showman, rocking out on stage in distinctive leather suits.

During his final show, Downie called out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in Canada's aboriginal communities.

A few months after that concert, Downie released a solo album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by the tragedy of state-funded church schools that Canadian aboriginal children were forced to attend from the 19th century until the 1970s.

He said his Secret Path project was aimed at Canada's decades-long government policy of requiring aboriginal children to attend residential schools, where physical and sexual abuse was often rampant.

Born in Amherstview, Ontario, Downie said he always had a keen ear for music and while all the other children were spending their allowance on baseball trading cards, he was buying records.

While at university, he met Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fray, and they formed The Tragically Hip, which started out as a cover band.

Their first self-titled EP was released in 1987 and their breakthrough debut full-length album, Up To Here, was released in 1989. Since then they have released 14 studio albums, two live albums, one EP and 54 singles.

Nine of their albums have reached number one in Canada. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 14 Juno awards, the equivalent of the Grammy in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led the national mourning with a public statement.

"He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life," Mr Trudeau said. "We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it. We all knew it was coming, but we hoped it was not."

Downie is survived by his wife and four children.