Robbie Robertson is a polarizing figure in rock history. He wrote some of the most indelible songs in the genre's history, but die-hard fans of his musical outfit, the Band, believe that he ditched his fellow bandmates decades too soon.
The tragedy of the Band's demise is inextricable from Robbie Robertson's decades of solo success. The strain of touring, and the hard-living of the other members led to the premature deaths of icons like Richard Manuel and Rick Danko in 1986 and 1999, respectively. Robertson's critics believe that these deaths were expedited by the fact that they were less of a draw without the guitarist, and were forced to embark on more grueling touring schedules to make ends meet.
Robertson wanted to escape the Band's drug abuse
Robertson was a founding member of the Band in 1965 (back when they were known as the Hawks), and he remained a member until 1977. It was his idea to celebrate the band's decade of dominance with the now iconic concert film, The Last Waltz.
There were a couple reasons why Robertson decided to take leave. For one, he felt he had been forced to shoulder the burden of the band's songwriting duties on later 1970s albums, when the creative process had been more democratic on their first two releases.
Manuel, Danko, and drummer Levon Helm were sidelined by substance abuse issues, and Robbie Robertson felt as though he was being forced to drag them along on the band's continued success. He got tired of being the good cop in a group of bad cops, so to speak. He was also battling addiction issues of his own. He admitted as much during an interview with Rolling Stone.
"Our musical ability was disappearing before my eyes," Robertson told journalist Stephen Rodrick. "You’re in a place and it’s on fire and you say, 'I’ve got to get out of here.'" The Last Waltz was meant to be a proper sendoff to the Band, but they insisted on moving forward. Robertson, meanwhile, wanted to pursue a career in film.
He also wanted to work with director Martin Scorsese
The guitarist had struck up a friendship with Last Waltz director Martin Scorsese, and would go on to become one of his primary musical collaborators. Robertson worked on a number of classic films for Scorsese, including Raging Bull (1980), Casino (1995), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
Robertson's relationships with the other members of the Band was never the same. He was reviled, in particular, by Helm, who criticized the guitarist whenever he could. Despite this, Robertson felt that he made the right decision to leave the Band when he did.
Robertson died in 2023, shortly before the release of Killers of the Flower Moon. He remains one of the most famous members of the Band, and a vital collaborator of one of the most adored directors of all time. It's difficult to argue with the results, even if one laments what happened to the rest of the group.