The Tragically Hip: 10 Essential Songs

After forming in Kingston in 1984, the band started playing shows in and around Ontario. At a gig at the iconic Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto in 1986, then-president of MCA Records Bruce Dickinson was in the audience. The result was a self-titled 1987 LP that included the single "Highway Girl." A 1991 live version of the song included a fictional rant about a double-suicide – it proved to be more popular and garner more radio play than the original. Downie would go on to ad lib elaborate speaking sections for a number of the group’s future hits.