Levon Helm Dies (1940 - 2012)

Helm had been wrestling with lung cancer for a considerable time. A notice had been posted on his official website by his family warning that the struggle was nearing an end. Now, unfortunately, the hour has finally come. He died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.

He is survived by his wife Sandy and his daughter Amy.

Levon Helm was undoubtedly on the all time rock greats. He played with Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, the first of the group that would eventually become The Band. They traded for a period as Levon and The Hawks, before finally emerging as one the American rock's great institutions. They backed Bob Dylan on the famous 1966 tour before stepping forward as a group, releasing Music from The Big Pink in 1968.

The follow-up, the eponymous The Band, also known as "the brown album"was widely regarded as one of the greatest records of all time.

They played their final gig with the original line-up in LA in 1978, which was filmed as The Last Waltz by Martin Scorcese, and which featured an extraordinary cast of rock greats, including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, The Staples Singers, Dr.John, Emmylou Harris – and of course, the great Ronnie Hawkins.

"He was one of the most wonderful and distinctive singers in the history of rock'n'roll," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. "He was also totally unassuming – a real musician to the very soles of his boots. He will be greatly missed."