Robbie Robertson, the band’s co-founder and guitarist, has died at the age of 80

Robbie Robertson, the guitarist, singer-songwriter and co-founder of Canadian-American rock group The Band, has died. He was 80.

Robertson’s longtime manager, Jared Levine, confirmed his death to The Post on Wednesday, saying Robertson died in Los Angeles after a long illness.

“Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife Janet, his ex-wife Dominique, their partner Nicholas and their children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine and Delphine’s partner Kenny,” Levine said in an interview statement.

“He also leaves behind 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 asked for a donation Six Nations of the Grand River to support the construction of their new cultural center.”

Born Jaime Royal Robertson on July 5, 1943, in Toronto, Robertson had family roots in the Jewish enclave downtown and the Mohawk community of the Six Nations Reserve outside of the city.

He began playing guitar at the age of 10 and in 1960, at the age of 16, he joined drummer Levon Helm in the Hawks, the backing band of rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins.

The Hawks toured with Bob Dylan in 1965 and 1966 after the folk music star famously decided to “go electric.” Robertson and his bandmates moved to Woodstock in 1967 and recorded the seminal Basement Tapes with Dylan before changing their name to The Band and releasing the seminal album Music from Big Pink in 1968.

Robertson was known for writing some of the group’s classic songs, including “The Weight”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, “The Shape I’m In” and “It Makes No difference”. ”

By 1978, Robertson claimed every member of the band was struggling with drugs and/or alcohol, so he decided to end the group’s touring, leading to their demise.

“Our musical ability vanished before my eyes,” he said The week in 2015. “You’re in a place that’s on fire and you’re like, ‘I gotta get out of here.'”

Robertson was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1989) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1994) as a member of The Band.

He also entered Canada’s Walk of Fame as a solo act in 2003 and with The Band in 2014.

In 2019, Robertson received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Robertson and Scorsese became collaborators after the famed director captured the band’s farewell concert for The Last Waltz in 1976.

Beginning in 1980, Robertson served as composer or executive music producer for many of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street”, “Silence”, “The Irishman” and “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

Robertson released his solo album in 1987 and went on to release five more albums. His solo hits include “Somewhere Down the Crazy River”, “Shine Your Light” and “Broken Arrow”.

In 2016, Robertson released his memoir Testimony, which became the 2019 documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.

At the time of his death, Robertson was writing his follow-up memoir and had just finished writing Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, for an October 6 release.

In a statement obtained by The Post, Scorsese called Robertson “one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and work.”

“I could go to him as a confidante at any time. A employee. A consultant. I tried to do the same for him. Long before we met, his music played a central role in my life – in me and in millions and millions of other people around the world,” the statement said.

“The band’s music and Robbie’s own later solo music seemed to come from the very heart of this continent, its traditions, tragedies and joys. It goes without saying that he was a giant and that his impact on the art form was profound and lasting. There is never enough time with someone you love. And I loved Robbie.”