I like a few songs from the Barenaked Ladie, which I believe are of a similar vintage to the Hip. Of course as far as Canadian music goes, it's Neil Young that rocks the greatest.

Not BTO then?

Heart had their moments.

BTO have their moments too. Blue Collar is a great mellow 70s track, and I have to admit, I even like Gimme Your Money.

Heart do have their moments, but I'd forgot they were Canuck. They did a pretty good version of Stairway to Heaven at Led Zep's Kennedy award.

The music is mediocre at best.

The songs are relatable for Canadians who grew up under the shelter of CRTC and therefore had little else to listen too.

I respect the fact that the band did it "old school" by playing the more interesting venues. I also don't mind a couple of their songs.

Sorry to see the guy go as he does appear to try and make a positive influence on the world unlike the modern "hyper reality" folks like Drake and Bieber.

This is pretty much how I feel as well. The Hip never really did it for me - not having grown up here, they were certainly not the "soundtrack of my youth" or any such cobblers. Their music is really nothing special - middle-of-the-road CanCon folk-rock mediocrity, to be honest. Downie, like other Canadian "icon" Neil Young, is really not a very good singer.

The Hip's lyrics are undoubtedly a cut above the average, I'll give them that. But I am frankly flummoxed over all the hype surrounding this concert. A news-in-brief item at the bottom of page 6 under the headline "lead singer is unwell; band stops touring" would probably have sufficed, not a national clear-the-airwaves-on-the-last-evening-of-Olympic-competition love-in.

Ahem. Singing is the least of his great talent (songwriting, composition and guitar). His voice definitely suits the genre and his songs.

For sure, assuming we're now talking about Mr Young: nobody's doubting his songwriting or guitar playing chops. But his singing voice is, and always has been, horrible - and to my ear seriously detracts from my enjoyment of his music. In my opinion, of course, and I'm patently not in tune with the majority of Canada in that opinion...

Downie, it seems from my own listening and backed up by the consensus in this thread, works much better in a studio (where a post-production crew can help out?) than live. Several have pointed out that his voice on live stage is not great. Which also is not to detract from his songwriting and lyrical abilities.

Neil Young offers lyrics on a par with execrable Rush,

Let the farmers grow what they want to grow,
Monsanto,
Let the farmers grow what they want to grow

It's nursery stuff and he can't sing.

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio

Decent lyrics and social commentary IMO.

This!

My FB feed is full of emotive, tear laden posts. Most of the town was in the local park for the concert feed. Such an outpouring of grief for one man makes me cringe a bit, and definitely not a topic to talk about with the locals

I heard that song, for the first time, last week. It's obviously from a long time ago and it doesn't seem that he sang any better in those days. Each to their own, I suppose.

Just seen the BBC headlines of this concert, it should have read Millions of Canadians tragically watch hip. I wonder how many cans of dreadful canadian beer were consumed, i wonder if the beer makes the quality of the concert any better?

Heart is from Seattle, though they lived in Vancouver for a bit.

12 million watched

Yet shockingly 200 million watched the 2016 Eurovision song thing

Thank you so much Shard, that really is an interesting and informative piece...I admit, until this poor man became terminally ill, I had never heard of them.

Apparently, most or practically all of Fredericton, was at the concert last night and it's nice that Canadians had something to draw them together as a cohesive group, I spoke to a number of people today who seemed very positive about the whole thing and felt that they were part of an important moment in history.

Yes, a recommendation of a good Hip song for the un-Hip would be appreciated....