Musician Jonas Bonnetta recreates the Tragically Hip’s Courage for Terry Fox Foundation video

Ontario musician Jonas Bonnetta got an unexpected call last summer. The Terry Fox Foundation needed music for a short film to mark the Marathon of Hope’s 45th anniversary in 2025. Its creative team had been bouncing around the idea of using a version of the Tragically Hip’s massively popular 1992 song Courage (for Hugh MacLennan), and they asked Bonnetta if he’d be interested in taking a crack at it.Bonnetta runs a studio in Mountain Grove, Ont., an hour north of the Hip’s home base of Kingston, composing soundtracks and making his own music under the name Evening Hymns. He recorded a quick demo that week while travelling, then spent months back home honing dozens of versions until his was perfected.Earlier this month, the Terry Fox Foundation unveiled its new Finish It campaign, hoping to build on Fox’s legacy and reach his goal of ending cancer through the work of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network. The film features a digitally recreated Terry Fox coming to a stop on a highway, only to be joined by hundreds of others to complete the journey.