Levon Helms "In the final stages of cancer"; or, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Levon Helm, the 71-year-old musician who gained fame as drummer and vocalist for the iconic group The Band, is “in the final stages of his battle with cancer,” his family said in a brief announcement Tuesday afternoon on Facebook.Helm, who was born May 26, 1940, in Arkansas, joined Ronnie Hawkins’ rockabilly band The Hawks just before they moved to Canada in the late 1950s.
In the early 1960s, Helm and Hawkins recruited Canadians Robbie Robertson (guitar), Rick Danko (bass) and pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson. They left Hawkins and toured as Levon and the Hawks before backing Bob Dylan in the mid-60s. In recent years, Helm has hosted his famous Midnight Rambles in Woodstock, N.Y.
“Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration,” Tuesday’s announcement, signed by his wife Sandy and daughter Amy. “He has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage.”
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Rock on, Levon!