Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to The Band guitarist, singer and songwriter Robbie Robertson at the first concert of his US tour.

The news of Robbie Robertson’s death was announced yesterday by the administrators of the band’s social media pages.

“Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife Janet, his ex-wife Dominic, her partner Nicola and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine and Delphine’s partner Kenny” the statement said. The guitarist and singer died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.

Bruce Springsteen is one of countless artists who have paid tribute to the musician. The singer dedicated the last song of his concert in Chicago to Robbie Robertson.

Bruce Springsteen performed “I’ll See You In My Dreams” saying, “To my good friend Robbie Robertson.”

In lieu of flowers, Robbie Robertson’s family has asked that donations be made to the Grand River Six Nations of Canada to support the building of their new cultural centre.

Robertson grew up in Toronto. He learned music from his mother’s family, who were of the indigenous Mohawk (Moican) tribe and lived on the Six Nations Reservation in Grand River. As a teenager, he met Ronnie Hawkins and his band the Hawks. Robertson began playing in the group as a guitarist.

After Hawkins fired Robertson and the other band members, Bob Dylan asked them to be his backing band in 1965. Over the next decade, Robertson and The Band, as they came to be known, developed a sound that combined the rock of their Hawks days with the revival of American folk music.