Levon Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, dies at 71

US folk-rock musician Levon Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, has died of cancer at the age of 71, his manager said.

Levon Helm died at a hospital in New York City surrounded by family, friends and band mates, said manager Barbara O’Brien in a statement.

His family had said on Tuesday that Levon Helm was in the final stages of his battle with throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1998.

The Band debuted in 1968 with the album Music From the Big Pink.

They reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s, and had several big hits, including Rag Mama Rag and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

Their last live performance was filmed by Martin Scorsese in 1976 for the film The Last Waltz.

They briefly reunited in the 1980s, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Levon Helm also toured with Ringo Starr’s All Starr band in the 1980s and won a Grammy Award in 2011 for a live recording in Nashville, Tennessee.