(hennemusic) Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder dedicated a song to Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip during the band's first of two nights at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL on Saturday.
The tribute came as the Canadian group performed a farewell concert that was broadcast nationwide from their hometown of Kingston, ON as the last show of a tour following news in May that Downie had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
"There's something going on up north of the border tonight, and it involves somebody that we can say is a family member," Vedder told the crowd. "He's part of the group of touring musicians we've met over the years. There's a guy who's got a band called Tragically Hip, and lucky for some of us, he did some recording with a guy we recorded with all the time with in Seattle."
"And I got to spend a few days with him," continued the singer, "and we were all informed of some sad news that he had a really tough form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma, which some of us know a lot about and it's a tough one, if not one the toughest forms. And he was very courageous and decided to take his group out on one last tour and tonight's the last night of that run.
"So they're up there going through the emotions up there. And I just want to send them our energy from our gathering up to their gathering up there and wish the best to Mr. Gord Downie. We love you." Check out the video here.
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