Gord Downie, frontman for the beloved and long-running Canadian band the Tragically Hip, announced this morning that he has terminal brain cancer. The band broke the news this morning in a statement on their website, as CBC reports. But though the 52-year-old singer might not have much time left, he’s planning to “dig deep” and head out on one last tour with his band. Here’s the statement from the band:

Hello friends.

We have some very tough news to share with you today, and we wish it wasn’t so.

A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Since then, obviously, he’s endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard. In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we’ve been standing by him.

So after 30-some years together as The Tragically Hip, thousands of shows, and hundreds of tours…

We’ve decided to do another one.

This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us.

What we in The Hip receive, each time we play together, is a connection; with each other; with music and it’s magic; and during the shows, a special connection with all of you, our incredible fans.

So, we’re going to dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet.

We hope you can come out and join us this summer – details and dates will be coming this week.

And we sincerely thank all of you, for your continued love and support,

Paul, GordD, Johnny, Rob, GordS

Downie has four kids. When artists make the conscious decision to share their last days with their fans, it’s such an astonishing act of generosity that it frankly boggles the mind.