The Canadian virtuoso, known for his solo on “Chest Fever,” gave the group a “sound twice as big” and his mates music lessons.

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.'

Hudson died early Tuesday in a nursing home near Woodstock, New York, his former manager, Jim Della Croce, confirmed to USA TODAY. Della Croce remembered the late musician as a "brilliant man" and the "glue that made The Band, The Band."