Garth Hudson, the multi-talented musical genius who elevated the Band while remaining its most reserved member, died Tuesday. He was 87.
Hudson, who was the last surviving member of the group, died in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, according to the Toronto Star. His exact cause of death was not announced.
“Garth once said, ‘I found some true enjoyment in helping people get to the bottom of their feelings,’” read a post on the group’s Instagram account. “Through his music, he did just that — helping us all feel more deeply and connect to something greater.”
Hudson was the only member of the Band who never sang onstage or on a record, but he still imprinted his unique sound on the group through his ability to play almost any instrument — accordion, clavinet, piccolo, saxophone, melodica, piano, synthesizer — and play it well.
He was best known for his work on the organ, preferring a Lowrey to the rock standard Hammond B-3 of the time. Perhaps his defining contribution to the Band was the wondrous organ solo to open “Chest Fever,” so definitive that it was given its own name, “The Genetic Method.”
Hudson was the oldest and last member to join the Band, which was originally known as the Hawks and backed up Ronnie Hawkins. In the late 1960s, they ditched Hawkins, hit the road with Bob Dylan as he left his folk roots behind and then released their first studio album, “Music from Big Pink,” in 1969.
The only classically trained musician in the group, Hudson was admired by his colleagues for his immense skills.
“There’s no question in my mind that, at the time, Garth was far and away the most advanced musician in rock ‘n’ roll,” the Band guitarist Robbie Robertson once said. Drummer Levon Helm added in his memoir that after Hudson joined, “We really thought we were the best band in the world.”
Following the group’s epic finale concert, “The Last Waltz,” in 1976, Hudson played with a variety of partners on numerous recordings but never again reached the level of fame achieved by the Band.
Members of the Band dying before him were keyboardist Richard Manuel in 1986, bassist Rick Danko in 1999, Helm in 2012 and Robertson in 2023. Hudson’s wife, Maud, died in 2022.
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