Rick Danko

Rick Danko played bass the way a singer phrases a melody — fluid, melodic, never just keeping time — and sang in a high, trembling tenor that could break your heart. Of the three lead voices in The Band, his was the most nakedly emotional.

The melodic bass

A farm boy from rural Ontario, Danko brought a country fiddler's lyricism to the electric bass. Working hand-in-glove with Levon Helm's drums, he gave the group its springy, conversational groove. He sang lead on some of their most tender songs, above all the devastating “It Makes No Difference” from Northern Lights – Southern Cross.

Warmth and trouble

Bandmates and fans alike remember Danko as the warmest presence in the group — open-hearted and irrepressible on stage. The decades after The Band's heyday were marked by hard living and struggles that took a physical toll. He kept performing, solo and in the reformed Band, almost to the end, and died in his sleep in 1999.