Garth Hudson, the last surviving founding member of the beloved roots-rock ensemble The Band, has died. The Canadian musician was 87 years old. His close friend Jan Haust, a music archivist and producer, confirmed the news to NPR. "He was a divine musical gentleman," Haust says. "He died peacefully in his sleep, holding the hand of someone he loved."
Born Eric Hudson in Windsor, Ontario, in 1937, the musician grew up with parents who supported his talents, both multi-instrumentalists themselves. When Hudson was repeatedly approached by members of what would become The Band, he initially declined to join. It was only with a few special conditions — including an extra $10 a week to teach music lessons to the other members, which he hoped would help earn his rock-averse parents' approval — that he finally gave in.
At that point, the group was working as the backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. They later split from Hawkins and met Bob Dylan, who was infamously transitioning from acoustic folk to plugged-in rock. The quintet — Hudson, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko — toured behind Dylan in 1965 and '66.
In 1967, the group relocated to a house in upstate New York, which they dubbed Big Pink. In its basement, they recorded over 100 songs with Dylan, later released as The Basement Tapes, and fleshed out the material for what would become The Band's debut album, Music from Big Pink.
Hudson played the keyboard, accordion and saxophone. But it was his way of playing the Lowrey organ and the clavinet as lead instruments that gave The Band's music its signature churchy, post-psychedelic sound, particularly on tracks like "Chest Fever" and "Up On Cripple Creek."
"The best line I ever heard with respect to Garth is, 'Music is his first language,' " Canadian writer Harry Hew tells NPR. "He's always been in his own world, and I'm just grateful he found a way to communicate with our world."
After The Band's official disbandment in 1976, Hudson continued playing in several iterations of the group, including a live session with bassist and vocalist Rick Danko for NPR in 1989.
In 1994, The Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Later in his career, Hudson worked as a session musician for artists including Norah Jones and Neko Case. In 2023, he performed publicly for the first time in several years at a house concert hosted by pianist and close collaborator Sarah Power (formerly known as Sarah Perrota). Harry Hew shared a video of the performance on X.
"As soon as his fingers touch the keys, everything is right with the world, and it's magical," Hew says. "I mean, he never lost that spark."
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