Bruce Springsteen kicked off his stadium/arena tour in Chicago this week and took the opportunity to honor the life of one of music’s finest, Robbie Robertson of The Band.
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Ahead of the E Street Band’s opening show, news of Robertson’s passing broke with a statement from his manager of 24 years, Jared Levine. Levine confirmed Robertson passed at the age of 80 in the Los Angeles area surrounded by his family after a long sickness battle.
“To my good friend Robbie Robertson,” Springsteen said before closing out the show by dedicating the tune “I’ll See You In My Dreams” to Robertson.
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Robertson is known best for the songs he wrote during his time in The Band, his Rock group that rose to fame in the 1970s with songs like, “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Shape I’m In” and “It Makes No Difference.” He was also known for working regularly with Bob Dylan and Martin Scorsese. A documentary based on his experience as part of The Band was released in 2019 and titled, Once Were Brothers.
E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt also took time to honor Robertson on Twitter with a post calling him “a good friend and a genius.”
“RIP Robbie Robertson. A good friend and a genius,” he wrote. “The Band’s music shocked the excess out of the Renaissance and were an essential part of the final back-to-the-roots trend of ‘60s. He was an underrated brilliant guitar player adding greatly to Bob Dylan’s best tour & best album.”
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