Two titans of Canadian music are coming together for one special performance.
On Thursday it was announced that the Tragically Hip and Feist will be performing together at the 50th annual Juno Awards, broadcasting Sunday, June 6.
RELATED: The Tragically Hip’s Rob Baker Says Possible Album Of Unreleased Music In The Works
“We’re really happy to be performing on the 50th annual Juno Awards,” the band said. “We’ve known Leslie Feist for over 20 years, having toured together in 1999. We are all huge fans and Gord loved her. It’s an honour to be able to play one of our songs with her. It’s been such a difficult year for our fellow musicians, we wanted to do something to honour them in a way that would make Gord smile.”
Since the Hip’s frontman Gord Downie passed away in 2017, the band have largely been retired, though members have on occasion performed together.
“I had a chance to tour with he Hip early on in my touring life, for something like a year,” Feist said in a statement. “Getting to be a fly on the wall of a camp that operated with such warmth and community by day, and then watch them transform and transcend every night to touch so many people was my first big education. I was a kid in their midst and I’m touched to be invited into the clan now, to play alongside them. The only way I’m making any sense of it is to imagine I’ll be singing backups for Gord, and know my 20-year-old self wouldn’t believe it. Like the rest of Canada, I’ll be so happy to hear these kings of song play again, and am very honoured to join them as they receive their Humanitarian Award.”
RELATED: Ontario Poet Laureate Role Created In Honour Of Tragically Hip Frontman Gord Downie
The 50th Juno Awards will also see Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush present the Hip with the 2021 Humanitarian Award, which recognizes Canadian artists “whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada and beyond.”
Over the years, the band’s philanthropic work has raised millions for a variety of social and environmental causes, including Camp Trillium, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Sunnybrook Foundation, and the Special Olympics.
