Classic Rock Legend Passes Away in Canada: The Band’s Garth Hudson Was 87

Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of Canadian-American rock group The Band, has died. Hudson died in his sleep Tuesday morning at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York following a “lengthy illness,” the Toronto Star reported. The keyboardist and saxophonist was 87.

“Today, we sadly say goodbye to Garth ‘Honey Boy’ Hudson, the last living original member of The Band,” a statement shared to The Band’s official Instagram page read. “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.”

Born Eric Hudson in Windsor, Ontario in 1937, Hudson got his start in music at a young age, taking his first piano lessons when he was just five and attending the Toronto Conservatory to study piano and theory and composition. After playing in local bands, he joined Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm in the 1961 in a rock band called the Hawks. He was the lineup’s final addition, and joined fellow Canadians Robbie Robertson, Rich Manuel, and Rick Danko. The group was hired by Bob Dylan in 1965 to be his backing band, per Pitchfork, and went on to play on his electric tour in 1966 and develop material for Blonde on Blonde and Basement Tapes.

Reworking themselves as The Band, the group released their debut album, Music from Big Pink, in 1968. Featuring classics like “The Weight,” which was featured in nearly two dozen movies, and the Dylan cover “I Shall Be Released,” the album made the U.S. Top 30 and went gold, according to Deadline. The following year, the group played at Woodstock, became the first North American rock group to appear on the cover of Time magazine, and released their self-titled sophomore album.

They followed it with 1970’s Stage Fright, 1971’s Cahoots, the 1973 covers album Moondog Matinee, 1975’s Northern Lights-Southern Cross, and 1977’s Islands. They also released two Top 10 albums with Dylan in 1974 – Planet Waves and Before the Flood.

In addition to receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2014.

Hudson was the last surviving member of the group following Helm’s death from throat cancer in 2012, Manuel’s death by suicide in 1986, and Danko’s death due to various health issues in 1999.

Outside of The Band, Hudson was a sought-after session player who contributed to a number of his former Band mates’ solo efforts, as well as records by Leonard Cohen, J.J. Cale, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Neko Case, and others. The multi-instrumentalist released his first solo album in 2001 and continued to record and perform into the 2020s.