The Band's co-founder, Robbie Robertson, dies at 80 years old
The singer wrote some of the group's hits such as 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. He also worked with Martin Scorsese on the music for several of his films.
(Cordon Press)
The Band's Canadian co-founder, songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson, died Wednesday at the age of 80 after battling a long illness. It was the Canadian artist's manager, Jared Levine, who announced the death of one of the members of the musical group that rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s:
Robertson, who was born on July 5, 1943 in Toronto (Canada), started in the music world as an opening act for singer Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks. He did so with Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, the other members of The Band. With them he toured with Bob Dylan, with whom he recorded several of his well-known "basement tapes" in 1967.
The group was officially formed a year later, in 1968. That year the band released the first of its eleven albums, "Music from Big Pink." The Band broke up eight years later in 1976, but left behind a string of hits that Robertson himself wrote including "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
Martin Scorsese, his great ally
The composer was a great friend of filmmaker Martin Scorsese. In fact, just before his death, the statement explains, the artist had "recently completed his fourteenth film music project with frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon." He also composed part of the music for other feature films by the director such as "The Wolf of Wall Street," "The Departed," "Raging Bull" and "The Irishman."
The two met in 1978, when the filmmaker was in charge of directing the documentary of The Band's farewell concert, titled "The Last Waltz." That was the beginning of a great friendship that lasted until the very last moment, as Scorsese himself assured in a statement shared by ABC:
The world of music remembers Robbie Robertson
The well-known director was not the only one to mourn the passing of the Canadian singer. Minutes after the news broke, social networks were filled with posts remembering Robbie Robertson, including those of some world-renowned personalities such as former President Bill Clinton and singer Neil Diamond:
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