Levon Helm, a passionate musician, actor and the last surviving voice of The Band, whose Southern tenor was heard on the group's classic songs "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," died Thursday afternoon after a long battle with throat cancer. The drummer and mandolin player was 71. ...
Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1990s and underwent intensive radiation treatment which greatly damaged his voice. Over time he was able to sing again, but his once-strong tenor had become the weathered rasp that can be heard on his Grammy winning 2007 album, "Dirt Farmer." The Arkansas native has carried on a busy touring schedule and hosts "Midnight Ramble" events at his barn in Woodstock, New York. ...
"People ask me about 'The Last Waltz' all the time," Helm writes in a forward of "This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band." "Rick Danko dying at fifty-six is what I think about 'The Last Waltz.' It was the biggest f--kin' rip-off that ever happened to The Band -- without a doubt." ...
...Helm also tried his hand at acting over the years, and appeared in several films notably "The Right Stuff" and his screen debut "Coal Miner's Daughter," in which he played Loretta Lynn's father, Ted Webb. He performed Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the film's soundtrack.
Much more (w/photo & videos):
http://www.billboard.com/news/levon-helm-of-the-band-dead-at-71-1006818752.story#/news/levon-helm-of-the-band-dead-at-71-1006818752.story
Blog, a searchable database of obituaries
back to 2001:
http://DeadCelebrityAlert.com
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