Yahoo Lifestyle Garth Hudson, Last Surviving Member of The Band, Dead at 87
Garth Hudson, the last member of The Band, is dead at 87.
The legendary, multifaceted artist's death was confirmed in a statement shared by his estate, noting he died peacefully in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, N.Y.
"Today, we sadly say goodbye to Garth 'Honey Boy' Hudson, the last living original member of The Band," The Band's official Facebook page also shared.
The announcement continued, "A musical genius and cornerstone of the group’s timeless sound, Garth once said, 'I found some true enjoyment in helping people get to the bottom of their feelings.' Through his music, he did just that—helping us all feel more deeply and connect to something greater. Rest easy, Garth."
Hudson, a keyboardist for The Band, was born on Aug. 2, 1937, in Windsor, Canada, and raised in the Ontario city of London. He got his professional introduction to the industry in 1961 when he was recruited by Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm and joined the group Levon and The Hawks.
The group—sans Hawkins—gained a healthy following and later joined Bob Dylan on tour, backing the bestselling musician during his 1966 concert tour and launching into international stardom of their own shortly thereafter. By 1968, The Band's founding members, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, earned widespread recognition of their own, eventually breaking out from a backing band to headlining shows of their own.
The Band made a "disastrous" debut at Winterland in San Francisco. But that same year, they performed to huge crowds at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y. The peak of their popularity lasted until the mid-1970s, after the group already released six albums, including a live compilation; Music From Big Pink (1968), The Band (1969), Stage Fright (1970), Cahoots (1971), Rock of Ages (1972) and Moondog Matinee (1973). During this time, they also collaborated with several other big names in music, including Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton.
The Band released a handful of other albums, most notably Northern Lights-Southern Cross (1975), before ultimately deciding to go their separate ways. They played one last show on Thanksgiving Day in 1976 at the same venue where they walked out onto the stage for their first big show—a moment inherently immortalized by Martin Scorsese's 1978 film The Last Waltz.
The group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Grammys, recognizing the longevity of hits like "Ophelia," "Chest Fever," and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
Hudson and a few other original members of The Band tried to reconcile in the mid-'90s but were unable to reignite the group's initial success with new members. He also branched out on a solo career, releasing three albums: The Sea to The North (2000), Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of The Band (2021) and The Howlin' Hill Project (2022).
Hudson was preceded in death by all of his founding Band members and his wife of 43 years, Maude. He is survived by the couple's daughter, Tami, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
