The Band

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anadian-American rock band The Band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass/guitar/vocals/fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ/keyboards/accordion/saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano/drums/vocals) and Robbie Robertson (guitar/vocals/piano/percussion) and the American Levon Helm (drums/vocals/mandolin/guitar/bass). The Band's music combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz and country, which influenced artists such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, and Wilco.

Between 1958 and 1963, the group was known as the Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. In the mid-1960s, they gained recognition for backing Bob Dylan on his 1966 concert tour as Dylan's first electric band. After leaving Dylan and changing their name to The Band, they released their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink and its succeeding album, 1969's The Band to critical and popular acclaim. Their most popular songs included The Weight (1968), The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (1969), and Up on Cripple Creek (1969).

The Band performed their farewell concert on November 25, 1976. Footage from the event was released in 1978 as the concert film The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese. It would be the last performance of the original five members. After five years apart, Danko, Hudson, Helm, and Manuel reunited in 1983 for a tour without Robertson, who had taken up a new career as a producer and composer for film soundtracks. Manuel died in 1986, but the remaining three members continued to tour and occasionally released new albums of studio material until Danko's death in 1999, after which the remaining members broke up for good. Helm would go on to have a successful solo career, winning multiple Grammy Awards in the folk and Americana categories until his 2012 death, while Hudson worked as a featured session musician. Robertson died in 2023 and Hudson in 2025. Weider and Ciarlante, who each joined the group at much later dates in the 1980s and 1990s, are still the only surviving members.

The Band discography features:
Music from Big Pink (1968)
The Band (1969)
Stage Fright (1970)
Cahoots (1971)
Rock of Ages (live; 1972)
Moondog Matinee (1973)
Northern Lights - Southern Cross (1975)
Islands (1977)
The Last Waltz (live/soundtrack; 1978)
Jericho (1993)
High on the Hog (1996) and
Jubilation (1998).

With Bob Dylan:
Before the Flood (live; 1974)
Planet Waves (1974) and
The Basement Tapes (1975).