What you need to know:
The death of the legendary Robbie Robertson has been reported. This is what we know.
Music says goodbye to an emblematic artist again… This Wednesday, August 9, it was announced that Robbie Robertson, leader and guitarist of the iconic group The Band, has died.
This was confirmed by his representative Jared Levine in a statement. “Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, his partner Nicholas, and their children Alexandra.”Levine said in his statement (via Variety).
robbie robertson
Robbie Robertson died and according to his management team, “passed away after a long illness”. The family requested that in lieu of flowers and other favors, fans make donations to a foundation that will support the Woodland Cultural Center in Canada.
Jamie Royal “Robbie” Robertson was born on July 5, 1943 in Toronto, Canada. Since his adolescence, he showed an interest in music and went on to form various bands during the 1950s such as Little Caesar and the Consuls, Robbie and the Robots and The Suedesthe latter being the one that opened the doors of a promising musical career.
It was during a concert by The Suedes that Robbie Robertson was discovered by Ronnie Hawkinswith whom he became a friend and later a member of his band, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks.
The latter went on tour and after some time, The Hawks continued on their own, in addition to they became backing musicians for Bob Dylan in the mid-’60s.
By 1968, after stopping playing with Dylan, the group was renamed The Band and achieved unprecedented success since their debut album. Music from Big Pink of that same yearto become legends of folk rock and country rock throughout the 70s. As a soloist he released five albums, the last being sinematic of 2019.
His collaborations with Martin Scorsese
Towards the end of the 70’s and beginning of the 80’s, Robbie Robertson began a distinguished career in the cinema. Due to his experience in traveling carnivals during his youth, he was offered to produce and write the script for the film Carny of 1980, where he was even one of the three main actors.
However, when it comes to cinema, he is remembered more for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese. The latter had directed the documentary The Last Waltz from 1978 about The Band’s farewell concert, so he was already aware of Robertson as a composer.
Their first job together was in raging bull from 1980, where Robbie produced the music. In later years, his professional relationship would extend with movies like The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishmanamong other. His last musical composition for a Scorsese film was Killers of the Flower Moon.
