Helm , the songwriter , multi - instrumentalist and singer for The Band , is dead at 71 . ( Patterson Hood , the leader of the Drive-By Truckers , named one of his earlier groups `` Virgil Kane '' after the protagonist of `` The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down . '' ) He had been suffering from throat cancer . He is best known for writing the lyrics to The Band 's rock ' n ' roll songs .
Helm , the songwriter , multi - instrumentalist and singer for The Band , is dead at 71 . He had been suffering from throat cancer . He is best known for writing the lyrics to The Band 's rock ' n ' roll songs .