Robbie Robertson

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson OC (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician. 

He is recognized for his work as lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s; as guitarist and songwriter with the Band from their inception until 1978, and for his career as a solo recording artist.

Robertson's work with the Band was instrumental in creating the Americana music genre. Robertson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Band, and was inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame, both with the Band and on his own. He is ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists. As a songwriter, Robertson is credited with writing "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and "Up on Cripple Creek" with the Band, and had solo hits with "Broken Arrow" and "Somewhere Down the Crazy River", and many others. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters.

As a film soundtrack producer and composer, Robertson is known for his collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, which began with the rockumentary film The Last Waltz (1978), and continued through a number of dramatic films, including Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Casino (1995), The Departed (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), The Irishman (2019), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). He worked on many other soundtracks for film and television.

Early life

Robertson was born Jaime Royal Robertson on July 5, 1943. He was an only child. His mother was Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler, born February 6, 1922. She was Cayuga and Mohawk, raised on the Six Nations Reserve southwest of Toronto, Ontario. Chrysler lived with an aunt in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto and worked at the Coro jewellery plating factory. She met James Patrick Robertson at the factory and they married in 1942.

Rosemarie and James Robertson continued to work at the factory where they met. The family lived in several homes in different Toronto neighbourhoods when Robbie was a child. He often travelled with his mother to the Six Nations Reserve to visit her family. It was here that Robertson was mentored in playing guitar by family members, in particular his older cousin Herb Myke. He became a fan of rock 'n' roll and R&B through the radio, listening to disc jockey George "Hound Dog" Lorenz play rock 'n' roll on WKBW in Buffalo, New York, and staying up at night to listen to disc jockey John R.'s all-night blues show on WLAC, a clear-channel station in Nashville, Tennessee.

When Robertson was in his early teens, his parents separated. His mother revealed to Robertson that his biological father was not James, but Alexander David Klegerman, a man she met working at the Coro factory. Klegerman was Jewish. He became a professional gambler and was killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Queen Elizabeth Way. She had been with Klegerman while James Robertson was stationed in Newfoundland with the Canadian Army before they married. After telling Robertson, his mother arranged for the youth to meet his paternal uncles Morris (Morrie) and Nathan (Natie) Klegerman.

Early career

When Robertson was fourteen, he worked two brief summer jobs in the travelling carnival circuit, first for a few days in a suburb of Toronto, and later as an assistant at a freak show for three weeks during the Canadian National Exhibition. He later drew from this for his song "Life is a Carnival" (with the Band) and the movie Carny (1980), which he both produced and starred in.[17]

The first band Robertson joined was Little Caesar and the Consuls, formed in 1956 by pianist/vocalist Bruce Morshead and guitarist Gene MacLellan. He stayed with the group for almost a year, playing popular songs of the day at local teen dances. In 1957 he formed Robbie and the Rhythm Chords with his friend Pete "Thumper" Traynor (who would later found Traynor Amplifiers). They changed the name to Robbie and the Robots after they watched the film Forbidden Planet and took a liking to the film's character Robby the Robot. Traynor customized Robertson's guitar for the Robots, fitting it with antennae and wires to give it a space age look. Traynor and Robertson joined with pianist Scott Cushnie and became The Suedes. At a Suedes show on October 5, 1959, when they played CHUM Radio's Hif Fi Club on Toronto's Merton Street, Ronnie Hawkins first became aware of them and was impressed enough to join them for a few numbers.

Later works

Robertson worked on Scorsese's films Casino, The Departed, and Gangs of New York, and he provided music supervision for Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Silence. For the 2019 Scorsese movie The Irishman, Robertson provided the score and consulted with music supervisor Randall Poster on the entire soundtrack. Robertson composed the score for Scorsese's 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon shortly before his death.

Personal life

On March 24, 1968, Robertson married Dominique Bourgeois, a Canadian journalist. They had three children: daughters Alexandra and Delphine and son Sebastian.

In March 2022, Robertson became engaged to his girlfriend of four years, Canadian entrepreneur, restaurateur, and Top Chef Canada judge Janet Zuccarini. Less than five months before his death Robertson and Zuccarini were married, which was shared on her Instagram account.

Robertson was a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.

Death

Robertson died in Los Angeles on August 9, 2023, at the age of 80, after a one year battle with prostate cancer.