It has been announced that that the drummer from The Band, Levon Helm, is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Only minutes after the announcement was made, hundreds of comments were posted on his Facebook page wishing him support and recalling his time with The Band.
“We’ll keep dancing to your beat,” posted Joan Gummels. “Thanks for all the good times.”
“Truly one of our greatest musicians,” said Kip Millwee. “May he find his way absent of pain and in an ocean of peace.”
“When I had the privilege to feel your energy at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival… You rocked my world,” Courtney Anne Steeves said. “Keep on shining.”
Other fans decided to post memories about concerts from decades ago.
“I was at Woodstock and heard you play!” Sarah James said. “It was so marvelous and a memory I will have till I leave this earth.”
Sandy, Helm’s wife, and their daughter, Amy, posted the following message on his Facebook page.
“Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey. Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration … he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage,” they said.
At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on Saturday, bandmate Robbie Robertson offered love and prayers for Helm. Helm was born in 1940 in Elaine, Arkansas and found fame in the 1960s and 1970s as the drummer for The Band. Some of the group’s most popular songs include “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” and “Up on Cripple Creek.”
Helm was diagnosed back in 1998 with throat cancer, which claimed his voice, and pushed him into hard times when struggling to pay medical bills.
“You got to pick one — pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can’t do both, and I’m not different,” he said in an interview with CNN back in 2010. Helm won Grammys in 2007 for the album ‘Dirt Farmer’ and in 2009 for the album ‘Electric Dirt,’ in what was sort of a renaissance for the musician. Helm would hold concerts at his home near Woodstock with the help of Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris and Donald Fagen from Steely Dan. The money helped pay some medical bills for Helm.