Iconic Last Surviving Member of The Band Dead Aged 87 After 'Day of Music' and 'Hand-Holding With Friends'
Hudson was the last surviving member of The Band.
Jan. 21 2025, Published 3:26 p.m. ET
Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of The Band, has died, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The multi-talented musician passed away peacefully in his sleep Tuesday morning at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York. He was 87.
He was 87.
Representatives from the group shared the news online.
A statement read: "Today, we sadly say goodbye to Garth 'Honey Boy' Hudson, the last living original member of The Band.
A musical genius and cornerstone of the group’s timeless sound, Garth once said, 'I found some true enjoyment in helping people get to the bottom of their feelings.'"
"Through his music, he did just that – helping us all feel more deeply and connect to something greater. Rest easy, Garth," the statement concluded.
Hudson’s longtime friend, colleague and collaborator Jan Haust told Rolling Stone that Hudson "died peacefully" and "yesterday was a day of music and hand-holding."
Fans expressed their sympathy online.
One person reflected: "One of the greatest organists in rock history. "Chest Fever" still sounds great all these years later because of him."
Another added: "And then there were none. They’re truly one of my all time favorites! I miss them all, it’s so sad that with his exit none are left. But at least we have their (and his) amazing music to enjoy & celebrate."
While a third shared: "I’m very sorry to hear this. It is indeed hard to believe they are all gone."
Hudson was a master of many instruments.
Robbie Robertson, the band's guitarist and lead songwriter, died in 2023 after a long illness. Keyboardist-drummer Richard Manuel hanged himself in 1986, bassist Rick Danko died in his sleep in 1999 and drummer Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.
Hudson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band in 1994, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2008.
He played keyboards and saxophone for the bestselling 1960s folk-rockers, and was the eldest member of the influential group that once backed Bob Dylan.
Originally known as The Hawks, the group would rename itself The Band in part because Dylan's friends and executives simply referred to his back-up musicians as "the band."
The group recorded seven studio albums between 1968 and 1977, with their self-titled 1969 album and 1970’s Stage Fright both cracking the Top 10 in the U.S.
The Band's final tour was documented on film by Martin Scorsese. Hudson joined the reunited Band in 1983, and released three more albums with them during the 1990s.
The Band started out backing Bob Dylan on tour.
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Although he never sang on any of their songs, Hudson did speak with Canadian magazine Maclean’s in 2003, where he reflected with melancholy on his rock-and-roll life.
He shared: "It was a job. Play a stadium, play a theater. My job was to provide arrangements with pads underneath, pads and fills behind good poets. Same poems every night."
But Robertson begged to differ in his 2016 memoir Testimony, gushing: "He played brilliantly, in a more complex way than anybody we had ever jammed with.
"Most of us had just picked up our instruments as kids and plowed ahead, but Garth was classically trained and could find musical avenues on the keyboard we didn’t know existed. It impressed us deeply."
