Bob Dylan has paid tribute to Garth Hudson in a post to Twitter/X, where the songwriter recommends listening to The Weight.
Hudson, who was the last surviving member of The Band, died at the age of 87 on January 21. He died in his sleep at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York, per reports. Dylan has since paid tribute to Hudson, who served as a multi-instrumentalist on the 1974 Tour, which saw The Band backing Dylan.
The 83-year-old songwriter wrote: “Sorry to hear the news about Garth Hudson. He was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind The Band. Just listen to the original recording of The Weight and you’ll see.” Attached to the end of his social media tribute was a recommendation of Music from Big Pink track, The Weight. The song marked The Band’s first release under this name, and was a single for their 1968 debut album. Hudson provided piano to the track.
Hudson’s manager confirmed the death on The Band’s official Instagram page. The statement reads: “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.”
A later post from the account shared Hudson’s legendary saxophone solo on It Makes No Difference from The Last Waltz, a Martin Scorsese-directed film depicting The Band’s final live concert. Another post from the account, made on January 24, featured a quote from fellow The Band member Levon Helm, and a clip of Hudson’s performance of The Genetic Method.
The quote from Helm, who died in 2012, reads: “Garth was sailing through long improvisations on the intro to ‘Chest Fever.’ He could soar forever if we let him, taking the audience through Bach, gospel, jazz, nickelodeon, Anglican; whatever he came up with.
“On New Year’s Eve we got one of these meditations on tape, and when the record came out Garth titled it ‘The Genetic Method,’ after a scholarly paper he’d been reading about classifying tribal music in primitive lands.“
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Good recommendation Bob, my favourite song by The Band.