The Band Musician Rick Danko Dies 

 WOODSTOCK, N.Y. (AP) ¯ Rick Danko, who went from Bob Dylan's backup band to the Rock and Roll
 Hall of Fame as a bassist and singer with The Band, died this morning in his home. 

 It was not immediately known what caused Danko's death, which came a day after his 56th
birthday.
 Ike Phillips, a friend and general manager of Woodstock radio station WDST-FM, said Danko died
in  his sleep. 

 Original members of The Band ¯ Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson and the late
 Richard Manuel ¯ were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

 Born into a musical family in Simcoe, Ontario, Danko quit school at 14 to play in rock 'n'
roll bands.

 At 17, he joined Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, whose members included the musicians who would
 later become The Band. 

 The group spent the early 1960s touring the bar and club circuit in Canada and the South.
After  splitting up with Hawkins in the mid-60s, Danko and his bandmates played backup for Bob Dylan
 after the folk musician unveiled his ``electric'' sound that launched the folk rock era. 

 During the Dylan years, Danko rented a pink house in West Saugerties, near Woodstock. The
group's  debut album as The Band ¯ ``Music From Big Pink'' ¯ was recorded there and became a hit after
its  1968 release. 

 Vocals by Danko, Helm and Manuel contributed to The Band's unique sound, and Danko sang on the
 group's signature songs such as ``The Weight,'' ``Up On Cripple Creek'' and ``The Night They
Drove  Old Dixie Down.'' 

 The Band went on to play musical festivals including the original Woodstock in Bethel in 1969.
``I remember landing ¯ I never flew in a helicopter before ¯ and seeing 500,000 people sitting
in  the field,'' he told The Associated Press this year. 

 After The Band split up following its famous ``Last Waltz'' concert in 1976, Danko went on to
a solo  career. The Band stayed retired until 1983, when all the original members except Robertson
began to  tour again. Three years later, Manuel hanged himself in a Winter Park, Fla., hotel room. 

 In recent years Danko, Helm and Hudson reformed The Band at various times. Their last
recording  was ``Jericho'' in 1993. 

 Two years ago this week, Danko was found guilty of smuggling heroin into Japan. He received a
 suspended sentence. 

 Information on funeral arrangements was not immediately available.