Garth Hudson, Last Original Member of the Band, Dead at 87

Garth Hudson, the last living member of roots-rock group the Band, is dead at 87. Hudson died in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, the Toronto Star reports. He was a classically trained pianist and organist who dropped out of earning a music degree to play in bands. In 1961, Hudson joined the Hawks, backing Ronnie Hawkins, after the other members agreed to each pay him $10 extra per week for music lessons. The group soon left Hawkins in 1963, and later began backing Bob Dylan in his early electric days in 1965, around when they became known as the Band. While Hudson had joined the lineup as an organist, his responsibilities grew with the group’s sound to include keyboard, accordion, woodwinds, and brass. He was known for preferring the fully electronic Lowrey organ, as showcased in the introduction of the 1968 song “Chest Fever,” over the era’s more popular Hammond organ.

Alongside Rick Danko, Hudson was the longest-tenured member of the Band. After the group ended with Danko’s 1999 death, Hudson released a solo album, The Sea to the North, in 2001. He also released a live album with his wife, Maud, in 2005. As a session musician, he backed artists including Neko Case, the Sadies, and the Lemonheads. With the Band, Hudson was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

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