Levon Helm of The Band passes away from cancer

By Kat

It’s a sad day for music as Levon Helm – singer and drummer for The Band – passed away today at age 71 after a long battle with throat cancer.

From Rolling Stone (read the full feature):

“He passed away peacefully at 1:30 this afternoon surrounded by his friends and bandmates,” Helm’s longtime guitarist Larry Campbell tells Rolling Stone. “All his friends were there, and it seemed like Levon was waiting for them. Ten minutes after they left we sat there and he just faded away. He did it with dignity. It was even two days ago they thought it would happen within hours, but he held on. It seems like he was Levon up to the end, doing it the way he wanted to do it. He loved us, we loved him.”