The Tragically Hip received the high honour of Group of the Year at the Juno Awards on Sunday night, but the band’s acceptance speech was cut short.
Frontman Gord Downie didn’t attend the ceremony, but other band members Rob Baker and Paul Langlois were there to accept on the group’s behalf.
As Langlois’ speech ran past the allotted time, the show’s producers tried to play him off stage with music.
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He asked, “Oh, you’re actually going to play me out?” and continued to deliver his speech, while the producers changed the music to the Hip song Ahead by a Century. Langlois continued talking, saying, “Go to commercial, go ahead. This is my arena, not yours.”
He proceeded to thank Downie, which was met with thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. Many people took to Twitter to share their disapproval about the beloved Canadian band’s cut-off.
Late Monday morning, the band’s official Twitter account sent one last jab in the Junos’ direction.
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For his part, Downie took home Songwriter of the Year for his solo project, Secret Path.
He appeared in a video message, thanking the crowd for the support Secret Path received and “recognizing our friends who were here before us.”
“Thank you for following the sound you’ve sort of been hearing your entire life, for recognizing that we aren’t completely Canada yet,” Downie said. “My dream would be that this record might help people.”
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The solo multimedia project recounts the life of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from a residential school. Downie revealed in May 2016 that he has glioblastoma, an incurable and rare form of brain cancer.
The band went on a final tour for their latest album Man Machine Poem this summer, selling out every show. Man Machine Poem won the Juno for Best Rock Album of the Year.
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