Robbie Robertson, who died Aug. 9 at age 80, made an impression on Billboard‘s charts as the lead guitarist and principal songwriter of The Band. The group landed multiple songs on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning with “The Weight,” one of the quintessential rock releases of the 1960s, in 1968.
Between 1968-76, The Band (during this time comprising Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel) reached the Hot 100 nine times — eight times on its own and once on the Bob Dylan collaboration “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine).” Though Robertson penned many of the band’s lasting hits, he rarely contributed lead vocals, usually deferring to Helm, Danko or Manuel.
Though the band never rose higher than the chart’s top 25, its influence on its contemporaries in the rock scene — and enduring legacy — spurred lasting careers for its members after The Band’s eventual breakup, including Robertson.
In fact, though Robertson never appeared on the Hot 100 solo, he was a prolific presence on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart during the first decade-plus of its existence, paced by a pair of top 10s in “Showdown at Big Sky” (No. 2, 1987) and “Sweet Fire of Love” (No. 7, 1988).
Robertson also became a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, contributing to the soundtracks of The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, The Departed and many more.
His success continued into the 2010s, when Robertson earned his highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200, thanks to the No. 13 debut and peak of 2011’s How to Become Clairvoyant. Most recently, Sinematic — Robertson’s final studio album released before his death — appeared at No. 7 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart in 2019.
Below are the biggest Hot 100 chart hits from The Band during that eight-year span of 1968-76. The Band’s biggest Billboard hits chart is based on actual performance on Billboard’s weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart, through Aug. 12, 2023. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower ranks earning less. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
