Robbie Robertson: The Canadian Storyteller Who Helped Redefine Rock Music

From Toronto’s Yonge Street to The Band, The Last Waltz and a Lifetime of Musical Storytelling

Few Canadian musicians have influenced the direction of popular music as profoundly as Robbie Robertson.

Born in Toronto, Robertson travelled an extraordinary musical road: teenage guitarist with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, collaborator with Bob Dylan, guitarist and principal songwriter for The Band, solo recording artist, author, producer and eventually one of filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s closest musical collaborators.

Along the way, Robertson wrote songs including “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up on Cripple Creek” — recordings that helped establish a roots-oriented approach to rock music that continues to influence artists generations later.

His story was also deeply connected to Canada. Toronto gave Robertson his musical beginnings, while childhood visits with his mother’s family at Six Nations of the Grand River introduced him to music, storytelling and an Indigenous heritage that would become increasingly important in his later work.

“I do consider myself a storyteller, and I learned that at the Six Nations Indian reserve.”
— Robbie Robertson, The World/PRI, 2019¹

Growing Up Between Toronto and Six Nations

Robbie Robertson was born in Toronto on July 5, 1943. His mother, Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler, was Mohawk and Cayuga and had been raised at Six Nations of the Grand River. As a child, Robertson regularly visited relatives there and encountered family members who played music. Those visits proved formative. Robertson learned guitar while still young, and music became a connection between different parts of his life.

Back in Toronto, another musical education was underway.

Rock and roll, rhythm and blues and the music coming across the radio from American stations captured his imagination. By his teens, Robertson was already playing professionally. He would soon find himself at the centre of one of the most exciting periods in Toronto music history.

Ronnie Hawkins and Toronto’s Yonge Street

Toronto’s Yonge Street strip was becoming a hotbed of live rock and rhythm and blues when Robertson entered the orbit of Arkansas-born rockabilly performer Ronnie Hawkins. Robertson joined Hawkins’ backing group, the Hawks, while still a teenager.

The experience was invaluable. Night after night, the musicians learned their craft in clubs where a band had to hold an audience’s attention for hours. The lineup eventually brought together Robertson with Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson. Those five musicians would eventually become The Band.

Going Electric With Bob Dylan

After leaving Hawkins, the musicians continued performing as the Hawks. Then came Bob Dylan.

Robertson initially joined Dylan as guitarist, and the other Hawks subsequently became part of Dylan’s touring group during one of the most controversial transitions in popular music. Dylan had moved away from the acoustic folk sound with which audiences associated him and embraced electric rock. Some folk audiences reacted angrily.

Robertson and the Hawks were standing behind him as that transformation unfolded. The experience exposed the Canadian musicians to international audiences and placed them directly inside a pivotal moment in rock history. Robertson also contributed guitar to Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.

Becoming The Band

Following their work with Dylan, Robertson and his bandmates settled near Woodstock, New York. There, their musical identity crystallised.

Instead of following the increasingly psychedelic direction of late-1960s rock, the musicians reached backwards — towards country, gospel, blues, folk, rhythm and blues and early rock and roll. The result was Music from Big Pink.

Released in 1968, The Band’s debut album sounded unlike much of what surrounded it. Its understated musicianship and roots-based arrangements offered an alternative to the excess increasingly associated with rock music. And at the centre of much of the material was Robertson’s songwriting.

“The Weight”

Few songs demonstrate Robertson’s gift for musical storytelling better than “The Weight.” Released on Music from Big Pink, the song introduced listeners to a mysterious collection of characters and a place called Nazareth.

Its mixture of gospel, folk, country and rock became emblematic of The Band’s sound. More importantly, “The Weight” outgrew the album from which it came. Other artists recorded it, filmmakers used it and generations of musicians continued performing it.

Today, it remains one of Robertson’s defining compositions.

The Band and a Songwriting Peak

If Music from Big Pink introduced the group, 1969’s self-titled The Band confirmed its importance. Robertson wrote songs including “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

The album reached No. 9 in the United States and eventually sold more than one million copies. That same year, The Band performed at Woodstock. In 1970, they became the first North American rock group featured on the cover of TIME. The unusual irony was that four members of this group so closely associated with American roots music were Canadian.

Robertson had learned to transform history, characters, landscapes and mythology into songs that felt as though they had existed long before he wrote them.

A Canadian Band That Changed American Roots Music

The Band’s influence extended far beyond its record sales. At a time when rock was becoming louder and increasingly elaborate, The Band demonstrated the power of restraint, ensemble playing and songs rooted in older musical traditions.

Their influence could be heard in musicians including Eric Clapton and in countless roots-rock, folk-rock and Americana artists who followed. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later described the group as reconnecting rock and roll with its roots.

For Canadian music, their success also mattered enormously.

The Band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989, followed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. They received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

The Last Waltz

By 1976, Robertson believed The Band’s life on the road should come to an end. Their farewell concert took place at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on November 25, 1976.

The guest list was extraordinary. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ringo Starr, the Staple Singers and others joined The Band for the celebration.

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese documented the evening. The resulting film, The Last Waltz, was released in 1978 and became one of the most celebrated concert films ever made.

But for Robertson, The Last Waltz was not simply an ending. It opened the door to another major chapter of his career.

Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese

Robertson and Scorsese developed a friendship and creative partnership that lasted more than four decades. Robertson worked on music for films including Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman and others.

His final Scorsese project was Killers of the Flower Moon. It was their 14th film collaboration. Robertson’s score received a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.

Robertson had effectively created another career for himself — not simply writing songs, but helping filmmakers use music as part of cinematic storytelling.

Finding His Own Voice

Robertson did not release his first self-titled solo album until 1987. The record introduced another side of his music and included one of his best-known solo recordings, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.”

Storyville followed in 1991. During the 1990s, however, Robertson increasingly turned towards music connected to his Indigenous heritage.

Returning to His Indigenous Roots

Robertson’s connection to his mother’s Mohawk and Cayuga heritage had been present since childhood.

With Music for the Native Americans in 1994 and Contact from the Underworld of Redboy in 1998, that connection moved closer to the centre of his recorded work.

The projects brought Indigenous musicians, sounds and stories to a wider international audience. His journey back to Six Nations was also explored in the PBS documentary Robbie Robertson: Making a Noise.

This work became an important part of how Canada ultimately recognised Robertson.

When he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, the citation specifically acknowledged both his achievements in music and his role in bringing Indigenous music to a broader audience.

Testimony: Telling the Story Himself

Robertson eventually turned his storytelling towards his own life. His memoir, Testimony, recounts his journey from Toronto and the Hawks through Bob Dylan, The Band and The Last Waltz.

Honours and Recognition

Robertson accumulated recognition across several different areas of Canadian and international culture.

He entered Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2003, became an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. The Band had already entered both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Yet awards tell only part of the story.

The stronger measure of Robertson’s influence can be found in the musicians who continued drawing from The Band’s approach to songwriting, arrangement and ensemble playing.

‎⁨Copyright: @TheBandOfficial

Essential Listening

“The Weight” – The Band
The natural starting point and one of Robertson’s most enduring compositions.

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – The Band
A defining example of Robertson’s narrative songwriting.

“Up on Cripple Creek” – The Band
One of the signature recordings from the group’s celebrated self-titled album.

Music from Big Pink – The Band
The landmark 1968 debut that helped redirect the course of roots-oriented rock music.

“Somewhere Down the Crazy River” – Robbie Robertson
One of the defining recordings from his solo career.

Music for the Native Americans
An important later work connecting Robertson’s music with his Indigenous heritage.

A Legacy Beyond The Band

Robbie Robertson died on August 9, 2023, at the age of 80. His legacy, however, is unusually difficult to confine to one part of music history.

He was a Canadian guitarist who helped accompany Bob Dylan through one of rock’s great transformations. He became the principal songwriter of a group that changed the direction of roots music. He found another voice as a solo artist, reconnected publicly with his Indigenous heritage and spent decades helping Martin Scorsese shape the musical worlds of his films.

And behind all those accomplishments was the same fundamental skill.

Did You Know?

• Robertson was only a teenager when he joined Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks.
• Four of The Band’s five classic members — Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson — were Canadian.
• The Band became the first North American rock group to appear on the cover of TIME in 1970.
• Robertson’s creative partnership with Martin Scorsese ultimately encompassed 14 films.
• His final film score, Killers of the Flower Moon, earned Robertson a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

[1] Source: The World, November 22, 2019. (Context: Robbie Robertson reflects on his Indigenous roots, storytelling, music and the influence of Six Nations on his life and career.)

Editorial Note: Maple Music Lounge biographies are researched using official Hall of Fame records, artist publications, interviews, award organisations and other authoritative sources. Artist profiles are reviewed and updated periodically to reflect new honours and career milestones.