The Tragically Hip's Paul Langlois on Celebrating 40 Years of the Band, Anniversary Boxset, New Documentary, and Remembering Late Lead Singer Gordon Downie

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal filmmaker and brother of the late Gordon Downie, Mike Downie, also joins us to discuss the award-winning doc about the Canadian band 

From The LifeMinute.tv Team

March 7, 2025

The Tragically Hip recently celebrated four decades of music and friendship since forming the band in Kingston, Ontario, in 1984. The critically acclaimed rock group—consisting of vocalist Gordon Downie who passed away from brain cancer in 2017, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay—found success in their native country, going on to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame.

This past November, The Hip commemorated their 40th anniversary with the release of a boxset of their Diamond-certified debut album, Up To Here, the latest installment of special deluxe packages. Up To Here was originally released September 5, 1989, as The Tragically Hip’s first full-length studio album, an introduction that brought them breakthrough success, including two Canadian rock radio #1 singles, “Blow at High Dough” and “New Orleans is Sinking.” The album also earned the band a JUNO Award for “Most Promising Artist” in 1990.

Earlier in 2024, they officially dropped a new single, “Get Back Again,” which fans consider the holy grail of previously unreleased tracks from the band. The track was recorded before the band signed their first major record deal. The song recently reached #1 in Canada, marking their first chart-topping hit in 15 years.

If that wasn’t enough for fans, they got an even deeper look at the band in a four-part documentary series, The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal. Downie's brother, documentary filmmaker Mike Downie, directed the film, which premiered in September 2024 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The doc, now available on Prime Video, won the renowned People’s Choice Awards in the documentary category at TIFF.

The Hip’s guitarist, Paul Langlois, and filmmaker Mike Downie joined us virtually to talk about the documentary, celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary, and and remembering their friend and brother Gordon Downie.