Garth Hudson, the Band’s virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Weight” and “Rag Mama Rag,

Hudson’s keyboard was an essential element of the Band's sound on roots-rock classics such as 'The Weight' and 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.'

Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of The Band, has died. He was 87. Hudson died early Tuesday in a nursing home near Woodstock, New York, his former manager, Jim Della Croce, confirmed to USA TODAY.