Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson (July 5, 1943 - August 9, 2023) was a Canadian guitarist, songwriter, singer, composer and producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and principal songwriter of The Band, whose blend of rock, folk, blues, country and traditional American music helped shape the roots-rock movement. Robertson later developed a parallel career as a solo artist and film composer, particularly through his long creative partnership with director Martin Scorsese.
Born in Toronto, Robertson grew up between the city's streets and the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, where his mother had Cayuga and Mohawk heritage. He began playing guitar as a teenager and joined several local groups before attracting the attention of rock and roll performer Ronnie Hawkins. In 1960, Robertson became a member of Hawkins' backing group, the Hawks. The ensemble's lineup eventually included Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, musicians who would later form the core of The Band.
In the early 1960s, the Hawks established themselves as a hard-driving bar band while touring with Hawkins. Their reputation led to an important association with Bob Dylan, who recruited them for his controversial electric tours in 1965 and 1966. Robertson's economical but forceful guitar playing became one of the defining sounds of Dylan's live band. The musicians later moved to Woodstock, New York, where they worked with Dylan on recordings that were eventually released as The Basement Tapes.
The group emerged under its own name with *Music from Big Pink* in 1968. The album's communal sound and Robertson's writing on songs such as "The Weight" presented a striking alternative to the increasingly elaborate rock production of the period. The Band followed it with *The Band* in 1969, featuring Robertson compositions including "Up on Cripple Creek," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)." His songs often used historical settings, rural imagery and fictional characters to explore ambition, displacement, violence and the passage of time.
The Band remained influential through albums such as *Stage Fright*, *Cahoots* and *Northern Lights - Southern Cross*. Robertson also produced Jesse Winchester's debut album and contributed guitar to recordings by artists including Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr and Carly Simon. Tensions within The Band increased during the 1970s, and Robertson left after the group's farewell concert in 1976. The event was filmed by Scorsese and released as *The Last Waltz* in 1978, one of the most celebrated concert films in music history.
Robertson's solo debut, *Robbie Robertson* (1987), was produced by Daniel Lanois and featured collaborations with U2, Peter Gabriel and other notable musicians. The album combined atmospheric production with songs such as "Fallen Angel," "Showdown at Big Sky" and "Somewhere Down the Crazy River." He continued with *Storyville* (1991), *Music for the Native Americans* (1994), *Contact from the Underworld of Redboy* (1998), *How to Become Clairvoyant* (2011) and *Sinematic* (2019).
As a composer and music supervisor, Robertson worked extensively with Scorsese on films including *Raging Bull*, *The King of Comedy*, *Casino*, *Gangs of New York*, *The Departed*, *The Irishman* and *Killers of the Flower Moon*. His work connected rock instrumentation with orchestral, traditional and cinematic textures. Robertson died in Los Angeles at the age of 80. Through The Band's recordings, his solo work and his film collaborations, he left a lasting mark on popular music and screen music.