The Band was an influential Canadian-American rock and roll group of the 1960s and '70s, formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Band included Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, drums, harmonica); Richard Manuel (1943-1986) (piano, harmonica, drums, saxophone, organ, slide guitar); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, clavinet, accordion, synthesizer, saxophone); Rick Danko (1943-1999) (bass guitar, violin, trombone, guitar), and Levon Helm (1940-2012) (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica). The members of The Band first worked together as The Hawks, the backing band of rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins from 1959 until 1963.