Bob Dylan Issues Statement On Death Of ‘Lifelong Friend’ Robbie Robertson
etcanada.comBob Dylan is speaking out about the death of Robbie Robertson, lamenting the loss of his “lifelong friend.” In a statement he issued to Billboard, the 82-year-old rock legend offered his first public statement on Robertson, who died at age 80 on Wednesday. “This is shocking news,” Dylan said. “Robbie was a lifelong friend.
His passing leaves a vacancy in the world.” READ MORE: Robbie Robertson, Legendary Guitarist For The Band, Dead At 80 Dylan’s association with Robertson dates back to 1966, when he tapped The Hawks (who would go on to renamed themselves The Band) as his backing band during his 1966 tour.
Now seen as groundbreaking, Dylan’s decision to “go electric” infuriated the folk-music purists at the heart of his fan base, creating controversy wherever they played. “We got booed all over North America, Australia, Europe, and people were saying this isn’t working and we kept on and Bob didn’t budge,” Robertson told Mojo in a 2017 interview. READ MORE: Robbie Robertson Dies: Martin Scorsese, Bryan Adams, Kiefer Sutherland & More Celebs Pay Tribute Dylan’s musical association with Robertson and The Band would continue, on and off, in the years that followed.
While Dylan recuperated from a motorcycle accident in the late 1960s at his home in Woodstock, New York, Robertson and the other members of The Band lived nearby, and would regularly get together to work on new music; the result of these informal sessions came to be known as The Basement Tapes, a sought-after bootleg recording that was subsequently given an official release.
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