EPARobbie Robertson
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 22:32
Canadian guitarist, songwriter and singer Robbie Robertson has died at the age of 80. His management reports this in a press statement. Nothing is known about the cause of death.
Robertson rose to fame as one of the five members of the Canadian-American band The Band, who quickly rose to popularity in the 1970s with songs like The Weightwhich was written by Robertson.
The Band’s most famous song, The Weight:
Robertson started his career at a young age by joining the backing band of rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins in the late 1950s. The Band originated in the 1960s as a backing band for Bob Dylan. After Dylan’s motorcycle accident in 1966, which prevented him from performing for a long time, the group went to a rented house in Woodstock to record music with Dylan.
It led to The Band’s first album in 1968, Music from Big Pink, which became an instant success. A year later followed with the album The Band already the second album. Robertson developed into the main lyricist of The Band. The group’s characteristic music – a kind of mix of country with folk, blues and rock – is still an important influence in the Americana music style.
In its heyday, the group was also highly regarded among music critics and other musicians, partly because all band members were excellent singers and musicians. It led to a special synergy. Eric Clapton once famously said that he would have loved to become a member of The Band.
But after the first success, things started to bubble between the band members, partly due to irritation in Robertson in particular about excessive drinking and drug use by his fellow band members. He also took the initiative to dissolve the band in 1976, giving one more big farewell concert in San Francisco: The Last Waltz.
ANPVan Morrison, Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson (left to right) during The Last Waltz
Many famous guest artists were present at that acclaimed concert, from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to Eric Clapton and Joni Mitchell, but the band broke up after a fight. For example, things did not go well between Robertson and another prominent member of The Band – Levon Helm, who died in 2012 – until Robertson visited him on his deathbed and the two made amends.
The Band’s story was retold in 2019 in the documentary Once Were Brothers, in which Robertson plays a prominent role:
After his time with The Band, Robbie Robertson continued as a solo artist. In 1988 his Somewhere Down the Crazy River a top-10 hit in the Netherlands. He also became a successful writer of movie soundtracks, often collaborating with famed director Martin Scorsese. Robertson, for example, contributed to successful films such as Raging Bull in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Shortly before his death, Robertson had just completed a new project with Scorsese for the film Killers of the Flower Moon, writes Variety.
2023-08-09 20:32:39
#Guitarist #songwriter #singer #Robbie #Robertson #Band #passed
