By Ankita Tripathy
Robbie Robertson, the talented guitarist, songwriter, and singer, who guided the Band, a Canadian-American ensemble, to iconic status in the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 80. He had collaborated extensively with Bob Dylan and Martin Scorsese.
His management has revealed that Robertson succumbed to a prolonged illness on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Robertson’s manager of 34 years, Jared Levine, said in a statement:
“Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine’s partner Kenny. He is also survived by his grandchildren Angelica, Donovan, Dominic, Gabriel and Seraphina. Robertson recently completed his fourteenth film music project with frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support a new Woodland Cultural Center.”
The Band songs “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “The Shape I’m In,” and “It Makes No Difference” are among his best-known compositions. “Once Were Brothers,” a documentary that was released in 2019, chronicled his time in The Band.
Robertson collaborated with Scorsese as a composer, music producer, and music supervisor beginning in 1980 on movies like “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “The Color of Money,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence,” “The Irishman,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” after the band’s 1976 farewell concert, “The Last Waltz,” was captured on film.
At the age of 16, the singer-songwriter-guitarist became a member of the Hawks, starting their journey as the backup unit for American rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. In 1964, Robertson and his fellow bandmates – Levon Helm on drums, Rick Danko on bass, Richard Manuel on piano, and Garth Hudson on organ – embarked on their independent path.
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