Musician and singer Robbie Robertson, known for fronting The Band, has died at 80.
The Canadian artist, who wrote some of the Americana group's biggest hits, including "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Up on Cripple Creek," died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long illness, his manager Jared Levine said in a statement to the Independent.
"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," the statement read.
"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 the building of their new cultural centre."
Robertson collaborated extensively with director Scorsese throughout his career. They first teamed up for "The Last Waltz," a 1978 concert film about The Band, and would go on to work on numerous other projects together, including the soundtracks for Scorsese's films "Raging Bull" (1980), "Casino" (1995), "The Departed" (2006), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), and "The Irishman" (2019).
Robertson, born in 1943 in Toronto, was 16 when he joined the Hawks, the backing band for rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins. The group evolved into The Band after leaving Hawkins in 1964, releasing its seminal debut album "Music From Big Pink" in 1968.
The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Robertson continued with his solo music career, frequently collaborating with Eric Clapton while also working on soundtracks for film and TV.
Weeks before his death, in an interview with Variety, Robertson spoke of his 40-plus-year relationship with Scorsese.
"We're in awe ourselves that our brotherhood has outlasted everything," Robertson said. "We've been through it; we've been there and back. I am so proud of our friendship and our work. It's been just a gift in life."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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