Garth Hudson, The Band's last surviving member, died at 87

Garth Hudson, the sole surviving member of the Canadian-American rock band The Band, died.

The Canadian Press announced Hudson's death on Tuesday, citing his friend Jan Haust. Additional information was not immediately available. Hudson had been residing in a nursing home in upstate New York.

Robbie Robertson, the band's guitarist and principal songwriter, died in 2023 following a lengthy illness. Richard Manuel, a keyboardist and drummer, committed suicide in 1986; Rick Danko, a bassist, died in his sleep in 1999; and drummer Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012. 

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

Hudson was born in Ontario and began musical training at a young age. Hudson began creating and playing music in his teens.

He was the final member to join The Band, which was created in the 1960s.

The band was initially known as The Hawks, and it included Arkansas-born Helm and four Canadians recruited by Helm and Hawkins: Hudson, Danko, Manuel, and Robertson. 

The Band honed their technique throughout years of touring as unknowns, then as unwitting objects of controversy after collaborating with Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s. 

They all joined Dylan on his historic tours of 1965-66 (Helm left in the middle), when he broke away from his folk roots and linked up with the Band to create some of the most rousing and stormy music of the time, enraging some old Dylan fans but attracting many new ones. The ensemble would nickname itself the Band, in part because Dylan's accompanying musicians were commonly referred to as "the band." 

Hudson also performed with the Call, an English band, as well as several versions of the Band.

The keyboardist has contributed to albums by Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, and Emmylou Harris.