Garth Hudson, Last Surviving Member of The Band, Passes Away at 87

“File:The Band 2005710093.jpg” by Heinrich Klaffs is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Garth Hudson, the multi-instrumentalist best known for his lucid virtuosity on the organ, a sound that enhanced compositions by Canadian rock stalwarts The Band, such as “Chest Fever,” has passed away at the age of 87.

News of the musician’s passing was shared with the Canadian press outlet, The Star, by Hudson’s estate executor, who added that Hudson “passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York.”

Hudson was The Band’s last surviving member after Robbie Robertson’s August 9, 2023 passing. 

Born in Windsor, Canada, on August 2, 1937, Hudson’s early life was steeped in music due in part to his parents’ instrumental accord; his mother played piano and accordion, while his father was fluent on drums, C melody saxophone, flute clarinet, as well as piano. 

By 1940, the family relocated to Ontario, Canada, where Hudson enrolled in piano lessons, using his skills to obtain gigs at church and his uncle’s funeral parlor. He also picked up the accordion, which gave him an outlet to scratch a growing itch for country music. 

In addition to classical piano training, Hudson comprehended music theory and harmony. He wrote his first song at age 11 and, by 12, had recruited a professional dance band to play the original with him, igniting a musical spark that would never fade. 

Hudson pursued classical piano during his collegiate years, focusing on Bach’s chorales and The Well-Tempered Clavier while enrolled at the University of Western Ontario. Dissatisfied with the stiff curriculum, he dropped out after a year and later joined the band Silhouettes, which found moderate pre-1960s success. 

Levon Helm and Ronnie Hawkins asked Hudson to join their band, the Hawks, in 1960, an offer he declined. The lasting call was initiated in ‘61 upon the pair’s agreement to Hudson’s terms, which included a Lowery organ. In addition to the members above, the Hawks also included Robertson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel. 

In 1963, the aforementioned musicians parted ways with Hawkins and began performing under Levon and the Hawks. Two years later, they were introduced to Bob Dylan, and by October 1965, the ensemble entered the studio with the Greenwich bard and recorded “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” 

The group continued studio work in January 1966, laying down tracks for Blonde on Blonde and later accompanying Dylan on his contentious electric tour. After Dylan’s motorcycle accident, the band settled down at the famed pink house near Woodstock, N.Y., leading to The Basement Tapes. 

The group recorded its debut album, Music from Big Pink, in 1968 and rebranded under The Band after previously going as the Crackers. The set included Hudson solos on “Chest Fever” and improvisational excellence on “The Genetic Method.” 

Confidently performing the accordion, Hudson added the instrument to The Band’s recordings of “Rockin Chair,” Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” and Bobby Charles’ “Down South in New Orleans” during The Last Waltz. 

As for sax, the multi-instrumentalist carved space for the instrument on “Tears of Rage” and “Unfaithful Servant.” His multi-faceted skill set on brass and woodwinds turned up on “Ophelia,” ahead of a synth wave on 1975’s Northern Lights – Southern Cross. Adding his mark to other referred Band tunes, Hudson performed clarinet through a wah-wah pedal on the acclaimed “Up on Cripple Creek” before The Band’s final show on Thanksgiving Day 1976 at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. 

Following The Band’s dissolution, Hudson worked as a session musician with greats such as Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, and Leonard Cohen.

In the following years, Hudson found opportunities to work with his former collaborators from The Band, including Danko, Helms, and Robertson. The group was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

Hudson debuted his first solo LP, The Sea to the North, in the early aughts. In 2010, he released Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of the Band, featuring Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Cowboy Junkies and more. 

His final public appearance arrived on April 16, 2023, when Hudson performed at the Flower Hill House Concert No. 6 in Kingston, N.Y., where he offered a rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.” 

Garth Hudson is preceded in death by his wife, Maud Hudson, who passed away in 2022.