Biography
Robbie Robertson was born in Toronto, Ontario with roots in the Mohawk community at the Six Nations Reserve. At 15, he began his foray into rock and roll playing the Chitlin circuit and up through Canada with rockabilly star, Ronnie Hawkins. In 1965 he accompanied Bob Dylan on the groundbreaking “Going Electric,” tour followed by the recording of the infamous, “The Basement Tapes.” Robertson and his band mates broke out on their own as The Band and Robertson penned some of the most timeless songs in rock and roll history including, “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” and “It Makes No Difference.” Robertson’s compositions have been covered by hundreds of artists, thousands of times. As a farewell to their time together as The Band, Robertson produced the Martin Scorsese film documenting The Band’s final concert called, The Last Waltz which Rolling Stone magazine named the greatest concert film of all time.
Robertson’s career after The Band kept pace with work on the music for eight Martin Scorsese films from Raging Bull (1980) to the 2017 release of Silence. Robertson has also released five solo albums and worked as an executive at DreamWorks Records.
The Band was a first ballot inductee into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame. Robertson is the recipient of Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame Award, Canadian Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame Award as well as the highest honor in the arts to a Canadian citizen, the Order Of Canada. Robertson has also received two honorary doctorates from Queens University and York University.