Obituary: The Band’s Levon Helm 1940 – 2012

Levon Helm, drummer, singer and co-founder of The Band, passed away on Thursday April 19 at the age of 71.

The three-time Grammy Award winner had been fighting throat cancer since 1998.

Bruce Hornsby Levon Helm “Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon,” Levon’s manager Barbara O’Brien said in a statement.

“He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician and a beautiful soul.”

Bruuuce.com would like to celebrate Levon’s contribution to the music world by including an old favourite which Bruce has played on occasion: The Weight, recorded from Bruce’s show in London with Jimmy Haslip and John Molo in June 1993.

mp3  Tribute to Levon Helm: The Weight
» 5.2 MiB - 1,576 downloads
London, UK
June 21 1993

Bruce has said: “There’s always been a bond between us. He’s got a deep pocket and he plays his own way, with that slinky groove. He’s just funky as hell. And couple that with his voice, his great voice. He’s completely unique, sprung from Zeus.”

“He’s so upbeat, laughing and smiling. You have that spirit that’s pretty much indomitable. He’s just funny as (expletive)”.

Here also is a two-part video of Bruce playing the same song with Levon himself and Sam Bush, filmed at Merlefest in 2008.

Part one:

Part two:

Related content

Leave a Comment