Singerdrummerobit: Levon Helm

Levon Helm, who drummed and sang with The Band, has died:

"He passed away peacefully at 1:30 this afternoon surrounded by his friends and bandmates," Helm's longtime guitarist Larry Campbell tells Rolling Stone. "All his friends were there, and it seemed like Levon was waiting for them. Ten minutes after they left we sat there and he just faded away. He did it with dignity. It was even two days ago they thought it would happen within hours, but he held on. It seems like he was Levon up to the end, doing it the way he wanted to do it. He loved us, we loved him."

Rolling Stone claims that Helm was "literally a witness to the birth of rock & roll", by which they mean that as a teenager he saw Elvis and Little Richard playing gigs. Certainly he was inspired; by 1960 he was part of a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins which contained the team who become the Crackers, then Levon And The Hawks, and then Bob Dylan's backing band.

Levon took a break from the group during 1965, when their role helping Bob Dylan's eletrification of the folk circuit brought so much hatred he needed a rest. By the time he rejoined, the band was The Band and were already stepping out from Dylan.

After Robbie Robertson split the group - against Helm's wishes - in 1976, the pair would enter into a longterm grudge-feud that was so bad Levon refused to attend The Band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Which makes Levon a good few years ahead of Axl Rose.

Levon Helm was 71. He had throat cancer.

Keyboardobit: Richard Bell

Candian-born keyboardist Richard Bell has died at the age of 61.

Born in Toronto, Bell's key role came after he was approached to play keyboards for Janis Joplin while in his early 20s. His time with Joplin included numerous live dates and an appearance on Pearl, the album released after her death.

Relocating to New York, Bell worked throughout the 1970s and 1980s as a sought-after session musician, before being recruited to The Band in 1991. He remained with them for three albums and eight years, until the death of Rick Danko finally brought The Band to a close.

By now living in Toronto again, Bell returned to session work (he also played accordion and saxophone); producing and composing; and would appear with Porkbelly Futures Danny Brooks & the Rockin' Revelators and Burrito Deluxe. It was with Burrito Deluxe that he would make his last record, this February's Disciples Of The Truth. But even before the CD was released he had received the diagnosis of cancer, the disease which would eventually claim his life.

Cingular drop ball while raising bar

Levon Helm, drummer with The Band, has legalised his hump with New York ad agency BBDO after they slapped The Weight onto a cingular ad:

"It was just a complete, damn sellout of The Band — its reputation, its music; just as much disrespect as you could pour on Richard and Rick's tombstones," said Helm, 66, a longtime Woodstock resident.

Oddly, though, in the same Associated Press report:

Helm's attorney, Michael Pinsky, said state law prohibits the use of a celebrity's voice or likeness for profit without his prior written permission.

Pinsky said Helm received a royalty payment from the use of "The Weight" in the commercial, but doesn't feel he has been adequately compensated.

It's not clear, exactly, how adequately Helm would have had to have been compensated before he could live with the pouring of as much disrespect as possible on Manuel and Danko's tombs.