Band Member Rick Danko Dies

12/10/1999 2:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(12/10/99, 2:30 p.m. ET) - Rick Danko, singer, songwriter and bassist for The Band, died early this morning at the age of 56, just weeks shy of his 57th birthday. The cause of death is not immediately known, however Danko's publicist told LAUNCH that the musician died in his sleep.

Prior to forming the Band, Danko and the other members of the group, which included Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, and the late Richard Manuel, were the back up band for Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan.

Danko was born in Simcoe, Ontario Canada and dropped out of school at the age of 14 to play music. At 17, he became a member of the Hawks, backing Ronnie Hawkins, with the rest of the musicians who would later become the Band. In the mid-'60s, after leaving Hawkins, the group partnered with Bob Dylan (for live dates and the recordings that eventually became The Basement Tapes). In 1968, the Band released its first album, Music From Big Pink. Memorable Band songs include "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek."

The Band split up in 1976 with the famous Thanksgiving concert known as The Last Waltz. Guest performances at the concert included Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Neil Young, Dr. John, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and the Staple Singers, among others. Filmed live and directed by Martin Scorcese, The Last Waltz is considered to be one of the best concert films ever made.

"I didn't really believe that we were putting [the Band] away like that," Danko recently told LAUNCH. "[I] thought we'd maybe at least release a record a year, but we didn't." Danko then embarked on a solo career.

In recent years, Danko, Hudson and Helm reformed the group at various times and recorded the album Jericho in 1983. In September of this year, Danko released his first major solo album in several years, Live On Breeze Hill.

Danko is survived by his wife and two children.

To read a Band feature from the LAUNCH.com archives, click here.

-- Sue Falco, New York

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