Rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins dead at 87

Ronnie Hawkins, the rockabilly game-changer who put together The Band before they were The Band, died Sunday at age 87 after a long illness.

“He went peacefully and he looked as handsome as ever,” his wife, Wanda, told the CBC.

Hawkins began his career in his native Arkansas in the late 1950s after quitting the Army, scoring a deal with Roulette Records. He then found a home in Canada in the ‘60s, bringing his hybrid of country soul and the blues. Hits included “Mary Lou,” which hit the Top 30 on the U.S. charts., “Hey! Bo Diddley” and “Forty Days,” his revised version of Chuck Berry’s “Thirty Days.”

But it was his backup band, The Hawks, made up of Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko, that would eventually overshadow Hawkins. After breaking away from Hawkins, the five formed The Band, which backed Bob Dylan, then went out on their own to become one of the most influential groups in music history.

“He was our mentor. He taught us the rules of the road,” Robertson, the guitarist, said in a statement online, calling him “the godfather” and “the one who made this all happen.”

“He had us rehearsing constantly into the wee hours. We balked about it, but we got better and better. Our goal whether we knew it or not. After the Hawks left Ron and went out on our own, we joined up with Bob Dylan. Next the Hawks became The Band and the rest is history, as they say.”

Hawkins released 25 albums throughout his career, appeared in “The Last Waltz,” Martin Scorsese’s 1978 concert film of The Band, played Bob Dylan in the 1978 movie “Renaldo And Clara,” hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono at his ranch and befriended then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

In 2013, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

He is survived by his wife, Wanda, three children and four grandchildren.