The Band’s lead guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson, who mined American music and folklore in such masterpieces as “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek” and helped reshape contemporary rock, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80.
“After a long illness,” Robertson passed away in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, according to a statement from publicist Ray Costa.
The Band profoundly influenced popular music in the 1960s and ’70s, first by literally amplifying Dylan’s polarizing transition from folk artist to rock star and then by taking in some of Dylan’s own influences as they created a new sound rooted in American history. This influence extended from their years as Bob Dylan’s masterful backing group to their own stardom as embodiments of old-fashioned community and virtuosity.
Robertson, a Canadian-born high school dropout and one-man melting pot — part-Jewish, part-Mohawk and Cayuga — fell in love with his adopted country’s seemingly limitless sounds and byways and wrote out of a sense of wonder and discovery at a time when the Vietnam War had alienated millions of young Americans.
In 1967, Robertson wedded Canadian journalist Dominique Bourgeois. They divorced after having three children. The singer’s other survivors include his second wife, Janet Zuccarini, and five grandchildren.