Levon Helm, Drummer For The Band, Is In The Final Stages Of Cancer

Levon Helm, Drummer For The Band, Is In The Final Stages Of Cancer

Enlarge Richard Drew/AP

In this Dec. 3, 2007, photo, musician Levon Helm appears on Imus in the Morning in New York. The 71-year-old musician's family said Tuesday that he was in the final stages of cancer.

Richard Drew/AP

In this Dec. 3, 2007, photo, musician Levon Helm appears on Imus in the Morning in New York. The 71-year-old musician's family said Tuesday that he was in the final stages of cancer.

Sad news for fans of drummer Levon Helm: The longtime member of The Band is in the final stages of cancer, his family said Tuesday.

"Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey," his wife and daughter wrote on the 71-year-old singer's website.

Billboard reports that Helm's voice was reduced to a whisper after he was diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1990s.

"But he still continued to sing on albums and at rollicking concerts at his Woodstock home," the Associated Press said.

Helm's distinctive drawl anchored such classics such as "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."

The Band's original members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Rolling Stone magazine has a gallery of photos from Helm's career here.

Fans remember Levon Helm as he faces final stages of cancer

Fans remember Levon Helm as he faces final stages of cancer

(CNN) -- Within hours of the announcement that Levon Helm was in the final stages of cancer, fans flooded his Facebook page with messages of support and fond recollections of the drummer and backbone of The Band.

By early Wednesday, more than 7,000 comments were posted.

"Truly one of our greatest musicians," said Kip Millwee. "May he find his way absent of pain and in an ocean of peace."

"We'll keep dancing to your beat," posted Joan Gummels. "Thanks for all the good times."

"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."

Some fans shared memories from decades past.

"I was at Woodstock and heard you play!" Sarah James recalled. "It was so marvelous and a memory I will have till I leave this earth."

Helm's wife, Sandy, and daughter Amy posted a message to the artist's website regarding his condition on Tuesday.

"Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey," his wife, Sandy, and daughter Amy wrote in a message posted to the artist's website.

"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.

During an induction speech Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Helm's former bandmate Robbie Robertson offered his "prayers and love" for the drummer.

Born in Elaine, Arkansas, in 1940, the son of a cotton farmer, Helm rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s as a member of The Band, a folk rock group.

His soulful, drawling vocals highlighted many of the group's hit recordings, such as "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Up on Cripple Creek."

Helm, 71, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998. He fell on hard times as cancer took his voice and medical bills threatened his house.

"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 told CNN in 2010.

So The Barn, as the residence is known around Helm's adopted hometown of Woodstock, New York, became the setting for what he called a "last celebration."

Not quite. Instead, The Barn became the center of an unlikely and unrivaled rock 'n' roll revival.

It was there that Helm regularly hosted the Midnight Ramble, weekly concerts that attracted sell-out crowds and all-star support from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen.

The result not only paid the bills but also led to a creative resurgence for Helm, with his collaborations producing back-to-back Grammy-winning albums: 2007's "Dirt Farmer" and 2009's "Electric Dirt."

"If I had my way about it, we'd probably do it every night," Helm said. "I never get tired of it."

CNN's Dana Ford, John Branch and Todd Leopold contributed to this report.

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Helm slipping away, family says

Helm slipping away, family says

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Woodstock's Levon Helm, who has given as much of himself to his fans and friends in Ulster County as he has to rock 'n' roll history, is dying.

A message posted by his family on Helm's website said The Band singer and drummer "is in the final stages of his battle with cancer."

The Arkansas native, whose fertile voice and on-the-money drumbeats graced such Band classics as "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" â€" as well as his three recent Grammy-winning solo albums â€" is just one month shy of his 72nd birthday. It's a birthday that was scheduled to be celebrated â€" minutes from his wood-and-bluestone home/studio â€" at UPAC in Kingston, with some of the musicians who have made his weekly Midnight Rambles at his home, down a winding dirt road, "the center of the musical universe," said Jimmy Vivino, a member of Helm's band.

A message to fans

This is the message that was posted on Levon Helm's website Tuesday afternoon:

Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. 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 ...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.

From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy.

Helm, who had survived a previous bout with throat cancer and was called "the greatest drummer" by Ringo Starr, and "one of the best singers ever, right up there with Ray Charles" by Kris Kristofferson, has been in the midst of a career revival. That's thanks to those Rambles that have attracted stars like Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket, the Black Crowes, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh to the woodsy room with a fireplace and worn oriental rugs.

"He became like a phoenix rising from the ashes," said Helm's friend of more than 40 years, Happy Traum, who first met Helm when he was the bearded singer and drummer of The Band, then Bob Dylan's backup band. Since then, Traum has played more Rambles than he can count. Even though fans came from as far away as Japan to see Helm sit behind his drums and next to the radiator at those Rambles, "he made it feel like a community event," said Traum.

That' s because Levon Helm is a community guy who always found time to play benefits and tributes for local musicians like the late John Herald and Happy's brother Artie. This star who shared the stage with legends like Dylan, Starr and Eric Clapton, even played benefits for the music students at Onteora High School. In fact, Helm has always made time for his friends and neighbors in Woodstock, where he has lived since the late 1960s.

He put on a suit and tie â€" and borrowed a convertible â€" to drive Happy to "Traum Day" in Woodstock in June, when Happy and Artie were honored for all they've done for Woodstock.

"It was such a wonderful thing to do," said Traum. "But so typical of Levon."

Amen, said another Helm friend and veteran of more Rambles than he can count, Woodstock's John Sebastian, former leader of the Lovin' Spoonful.

"What began as a footnote to an already illustri ous career has become such a staple of Woodstock musical life," said Sebastian. "It's impossible to imagine the town and the world without him." Then Happy spoke for everyone who was lucky enough to have met Levon Helm, and maybe even have him look you in the eye and offer you one of his bottles of Coca-Cola â€" made with real cane sugar, he'd tell you. "It's just been a joy to know him," he said. "I've felt personally privileged to be his friend and be part of his family."

sisrael@th-record.com

Levon Helm in final stages of cancer

Levon Helm in final stages of cancer

(CNN) -- Within hours of the announcement that Levon Helm was in the final stages of cancer, fans flooded his Facebook page with messages of support and fond recollections of the drummer and backbone of The Band.

By early Wednesday, more than 7,000 comments were posted.

"Truly one of our greatest musicians," said Kip Millwee. "May he find his way absent of pain and in an ocean of peace."

"We'll keep dancing to your beat," posted Joan Gummels. "Thanks for all the good times."

"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."

Some fans shared memories from decades past.

"I was at Woodstock and heard you play!" Sarah James recalled. "It was so marvelous and a memory I will have till I leave this earth."

Helm's wife, Sandy, and daughter Amy posted a message to the artist's website regarding his condition on Tuesday.

"Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey," his wife, Sandy, and daughter Amy wrote in a message posted to the artist's website.

"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.

During an induction speech Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Helm's former bandmate Robbie Robertson offered his "prayers and love" for the drummer.

Born in Elaine, Arkansas, in 1940, the son of a cotton farmer, Helm rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s as a member of The Band, a folk rock group.

His soulful, drawling vocals highlighted many of the group's hit recordings, such as "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Up on Cripple Creek."

Helm, 71, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998. He fell on hard times as cancer took his voice and medical bills threatened his house.

"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 told CNN in 2010.

So The Barn, as the residence is known around Helm's adopted hometown of Woodstock, New York, became the setting for what he called a "last celebration."

Not quite. Instead, The Barn became the center of an unlikely and unrivaled rock 'n' roll revival.

It was there that Helm regularly hosted the Midnight Ramble, weekly concerts that attracted sell-out crowds and all-star support from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen.

The result not only paid the bills but also led to a creative resurgence for Helm, with his collaborations producing back-to-back Grammy-winning albums: 2007's "Dirt Farmer" and 2009's "Electric Dirt."

"If I had my way about it, we'd probably do it every night," Helm said. "I never get tired of it."

CNN's Dana Ford, John Branch and Todd Leopold contributed to this report.

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Levon Helm: 'Final stages' vs. cancer

Levon Helm: 'Final stages' vs. cancer

Image Credit: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

Multiple Grammy-winning solo artist and former Band drummer Levon Helm is in “the final stages” of his battle with cancer, according to a statement on Helm’s official website written by his daughter Amy and wife Sandy.

The Woodstock, NY-based rock legend was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late ’90s and for a period was unable to sing. But Helm eventually recovered his voice and in 2007 released the acclaimed Grammy-winning album Dirt Farmer. However, it now appears that the drummer’s health has declined significantly.

“Dear Friends,” begins the statement, “Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.” In their message, Amy and Sandy also thank the fans 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 people dance! He did it every time he took the stage…”

Over the weekend, Helm’s fellow ex-Band member Robbie Robertson had sent a message of “love and prayers” to the drummer in a speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland.

Read more:
‘Dirt Farmer’: Review
Levon Helm: Midnight Rambler

How Tupac Became a Hologram (Is Elvis Next?)

How Tupac Became a Hologram (Is Elvis Next?)

Tupac Shakur played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekendâ€"at least, a computerized likeness of him did. A hologram of the rapper, who was killed in 1996, appeared on stage and performed two songs 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted and Hail Mary, alongside his still-living contemporaries Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. At the end of the act, hologram Tupac exploded into an impressive light display.

The performance was the result of a four-month collaboration between Dr. Dre’s production company, James Cameron’s Digital Domain, and two hologram-imaging companies, AV Concepts and U.K.-based Musion Systems. (The latter is responsible for the Gorillaz’s cartoon holograms that performed with Madonna at the 2006 Grammy awards.) Although Tupac is not the first performer to have been posthumously turned into a hologramâ€"in 2009, a digital Frank Sinatra sang at Simon Cowell’s 50^th birthday partyâ€"he is the first to give a performance that wasn’t rendered while he was alive.

“This is not based on archival footage,” says Ed Ulbrich, chief creative officer at Digital Domain. “This is not him performing at some point. This a completely original, exclusive performance only for Coachella and that audience.” In other words, it’s a digital likeness of Tupac designed to interact with his co-performers and the crowd. At one point, Tupac even shouts “What the fâ€" is up, Coachella!” even though the music festival didn’t exist until three years after his death.

The idea for the Tupac hologram came from Dr. Dre, who at this time is not granting interviews about the project (which means we’ll have to wait to find out how he got Tupac to say “Coachella”). Dre approached Digital Domainâ€"which won an Oscar for its lifelike interpretation of an 85-year-old (and 25-year-old) Brad Pitt in 2008′s The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonâ€"about how to employ the company’s technology for a live venue.

“We tried to make him aware of how hard it was going to be,” says Ulbrich. “No one has ever seen Brad Pitt at age 85, so there was room for error there; we could interpret him a little bit.” But Tupac had been a real person. And while living artists can pose for measurements before they’re turned into holograms, “we don’t have the benefit of Tupac to help us inform and guide the performance of him,” says Ulrich. The company created the digital Tupac from video footage and photos of the rapper. “And quite honestly, it was Dre and Snoop who had to guide us. He is their friend and they know him,” says Ulbrich.

Neither Digital Domain nor AV Concepts would divulge how much the project cost, although previous endeavors, such as when the Black Eyed Peas performed at a French awards show in 2011, have cost several hundred thousand dollars. The extra work built into this project likely means that Tupac cost a bit more. Still, that’s much less than the well-over $1 million that a living, breathing festival headliner would have demanded from concert promoters.

Deploying a hologram in an outdoor concert presents a number of problems that can be avoided amid a more traditional environment, says Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts, the company that helped stage the actual performance. “You can’t fight daylight. It’s not a controlled environment, and there are some outdoor conditions and ambient light” that aren’t conducive to something like this, he says. Plus, there’s always the chance of rain.

There’s a significant weird-out factor to holograms. The public seems both fascinated and confused by them. When CNN introduced its hokey hologram of a news reporter during Wolf Blitzer’s 2008 Election Night coverage, the technology was universally mocked. The Chicago Tribune even called it “a little bit creepy.” When the TV network used hologram stick figures in its coverage of the 2012 Iowa Caucus results, Anderson Cooper made fun of them live, on air. Compared to this, those were just crazy special effects. The Tupac hologram is as close as we’ve come to raising the dead. How long will it be before we send Elvis Presley back to Vegas?

“While we’ve demonstrated that we can certainly do that,” says Ulbrich, “that’s not really our business model.” Instead, he’s more excited by the fact that such a realistic hologram was created in just a few months. “It took us two years to do Benjamin Button,” he said. “Now that we’ve developed the tools to do this, we can start to look at other applicationsâ€"advertising, commercial work; until now things like this haven’t been feasible.” As technology advances, Ulbrich thinks digital projections of living, dead, and fictional people may become more common. His goal is to one day create a hologram that people won’t realize is fake. “Nothing is real and everything is possible,” he says.