Rock and roll icon Robbie Robertson is a premiere guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer of an extensive treasure trove of musical contributions. He was born in Toronto, Ontario July 5^th 1943 and raised part time on the Six Nations Reservation by a mother of Mohawk decent. He was profoundly influenced by the music, rituals and ceremonies of his heritage, and first learned to play guitar while spending time on the Reservation as a young boy. 

As a teenager, Robertson performed with several groups including Robbie & The Robots and Little Cesar & The Consuls.  In 1960 he hooked up with Ronnie Hawkins' And The Hawks. Robbie quickly came into his own as a guitarist developing a unique blues-rock style on songs such as "Who Do You Love" and "Come Love" which ushered in a new era of guitar sound and influenced many musicians of the time.

After playing with Hawkins until 1963, The Hawks including Robbie, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, went out on their own; soon they came to the attention of Bob Dylan and he recruited them as his band on the singer's now-legendary 1965-1966 World Tour when he made his transition from folk to electric music. Continuing their affiliation with Dylan, the group, renamed themselves The Band, and went on to become one of rock's influential acts. Their distinctive sound was propelled by Robertson's acute, evocative guitar playing and songwriting style. They produced a series of seminal LPs, including 1968's Music From Big Pink and the following year's self-titled masterpiece, which were revered by some of the biggest names in rock, including The Beatles, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones. The Band made history when it became the first North American act to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine. The Band went on to release 5 more studio albums to critical acclaim and included favorites such as "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek". 

The Band gave their final concert on Thanksgiving Day, 1976 filmed by director Martin Scorsese, which was released as The Last Waltz. The project marked the beginning of Robertson's long friendship and collaboration with Scorsese, becoming one of the first rock n' rollers to seriously engage in film. In 1980, he produced source music for Scorsese's film Raging Bull and the movie   Carny, which he co-starred in with Jodie Foster and Gary Busey. Two years later Scorsese asked him to be music producer for The King of Comedy and in 1986 Robbie was asked to score The Color of Money.

In addition to his film work, Robertson produced works for other artists including Neil Diamond's  album, Beautiful Noise, which took a radical departure in production, style and range for Diamond and is considered to be one of his finest albums. Robertson also worked with other legendary artists including Van Morrison.

In 1987, Robertson released his first solo album and included contributions from U2 and Peter Gabriel. The album won Juno awards for both Album of the Year and Best Male Vocal. In addition to his virtual Juno sweep, The Band was also inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame that same year. His second solo album Storyville, earned him Grammy nominations for Best Rock Vocal Performance (solo) and Best Engineered Album. In 1994 he formed the Native American group the Red Road Ensemble for Music for The Native Americans, which was his first foray into writing music specifically inspired by his Mohawk heritage. That same year The Band was inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame. In 1995 Robertson reunited with Scorsese as music consultant for the Academy Award nominated film Casino. In 1997, Robertson received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award from the National Academy of Songwriters. 

Robertson's next solo album Contact From the Underworld of Redboy further explored the sounds of Native America and a return to the Six Nation Indian Reservation. The making of the record inspired a one-hour documentary entitled Making A Noise: A Native American Journey with Robbie Robertson. Broadcast on PBS.  Robertson performed in the Native American ceremonial spectacular at the opening ceremonies of the XIX Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In 2001 he oversaw the re-mastering and re-release of all of The Band's original albums and in 2005 was the Executive Producer of The Band- A Musical History a box set featuring 111 tracks. In 2003 Robbie was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and in 2008, to add to his vast achievements as a musician; Robertson received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Aboriginal Achievement Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, The Native American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, and Canada's award for highest artistic achievement, The Royal Order Of Canada.

This past year Robbie once again collaborated with Martin Scorsese for music supervision on his latest picture Shutter Island. Robertson is currently busy completing a fifth solo album featuring appearances by Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood. Tom Morello, Trent Reznor, and Robert Randolph, among others.  With over 50 years producing, playing and writing music, Robertson is one of the most influential and respected musicians of our times. 

PUBLISHING:
Medicine Hat Music administered by Warner/Chappell Music Publishing

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.robbie-robertson.com/
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