Ronnie Hawkins, the southern U.S. rockabilly artist who sowed the seeds of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 music scene after moving north, has died at 87.

His wife Wanda confirmed to The Canadian Press that Hawkins died Sunday morning at a hospital in Peterborough, Ont. He had faced various health issues in recent years.

B次元官网网址淗e went peacefully and he looked as handsome as ever,B次元官网网址� she said in a phone interview from their home.

Known for his vivacious personality and enthusiastic stage presence, the singer of B次元官网网址淩uby Baby,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淢ary LouB次元官网网址� and Bo Diddley cover B次元官网网址淲ho Do You LoveB次元官网网址� earned several nicknames including Mr. Dynamo, Sir Ronnie, RompinB次元官网网址� Ronnie and the Hawk.

Hawkins was godfather to a generation of influential artists, including musicians he enlisted for his backing band the Hawks, which would go on to play for Bob Dylan on his infamous 1966 tour when the folkster embraced the electric guitar.

Five members of the Hawks, including Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson, would later form the Band.

Though Hawkins clashed with some of his former bandmates, he joined the Band onstage as part of their iconic 1976 farewell show captured in Martin ScorseseB次元官网网址檚 concert film B次元官网网址淭he Last Waltz.B次元官网网址� Robertson would later recall in his memoir B次元官网网址淭estimonyB次元官网网址� that inviting Hawkins was, in part, a tribute to his influence.

B次元官网网址淗e was really good at gathering musicians that he thought were the best around,B次元官网网址� Robertson said in a 2016 interview with The Canadian Press.

B次元官网网址淚t was like a bootcamp for musicians to go through, learn the music and when to do certain things and not do certain things. He just played a real pivotal part in all of it.B次元官网网址�

Born in Arkansas in 1935, Hawkins joined the army reserve after high school while moonlighting in the Black Hawks, a band formed by fellow musician A.C. Reed.

After wrapping up his time in the military, he opened the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville, Ark., which became a popular stop for artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty.

He eventually gave himself top billing and began playing as Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, crafting a bad-boy look with slicked black hair and sideburns.

Dismayed by several years of false starts in his own musical career, the singer-songwriter took advice from Twitty to launch a Canadian tour in 1958. He swore the country was thirsty for bands who were eager to play smaller cities.

Without a recording contract in his homeland, Hawkins saw Canada as B次元官网网址渢he promised landB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� an untapped market to sell his Memphis sound and build his reputation to the point of crossover success in the United States. His instinct was right, and by the end of the decade Hawkins had two singles on the Billboard Top 100 and appeared on B次元官网网址淒ick ClarkB次元官网网址檚 American Bandstand.B次元官网网址�

In his memoir, Robertson recounts first seeing Hawkins play at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Dixie Arena. His local band the Suedes was hired to open the concert, but he acknowledges the show was easily stolen by the man who would become his mentor.

B次元官网网址淚t was the most violent, dynamic, primitive rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll I had ever witnessed and it was addictive,B次元官网网址� Robertson wrote.

Musician Gary Lucas, who met Hawkins when he was 16, lived with him and Wanda for eight years and became one of his closest friends, remembered how much of an impression the musician left with his performances.

B次元官网网址淗e was doing double backflips on a stage in the middle of a song B次元官网网址� IB次元官网网址檝e never seen that before or since,B次元官网网址� Lucas said.

Many credit Hawkins B次元官网网址� who had an affection for designer cars, large aviator sunglasses, women and parties B次元官网网址� with laying the path for budding Canadian artists to enter the U.S. market.

B次元官网网址淢ost of them were starving to death,B次元官网网址� said Hawkins. B次元官网网址淎gents wouldnB次元官网网址檛 book a Canadian group.B次元官网网址�

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So Hawkins would lend his car, with U.S. licence plates, to band leaders with the goal of fooling agents and club owners into paying gigs.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檇 tell them they were from Scarborough B次元官网网址� Tennessee,B次元官网网址� he added.

Some called Hawkins B次元官网网址渢he father of Canadian rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� rollB次元官网网址� partly because he welcomed the idea of bringing young musicians into his circle.

One of them was a teenage David Clayton-Thomas, who attended HawkinsB次元官网网址� shows at Le Coq dB次元官网网址橭r Tavern on Yonge Street in Toronto with hopes the fiery musician might invite him to sit in with his band.

It happened one afternoon when Hawkins granted him an opportunity to B次元官网网址渟ing a tuneB次元官网网址� on stage. The performance led the barB次元官网网址檚 owner to offer Clayton-Thomas a longer gig years before heB次元官网网址檇 become the Grammy-winning lead vocalist of Blood, Sweat & Tears.

B次元官网网址淭his is how everything started for me,B次元官网网址� he said on Sunday. B次元官网网址淩onnie was very supportive.B次元官网网址�

Later that year, following the dissolution of Clayton-ThomasB次元官网网址� teen band, Hawkins was quick to offer his support.

B次元官网网址淚t was Christmastime and Ronnie said, B次元官网网址榃ell, you canB次元官网网址檛 be out of work for Christmas. Come on, work with my band.B次元官网网址� It ended up turning into like a two-month gig at Le Coq dB次元官网网址橭r singing with RonnieB次元官网网址檚 band B次元官网网址� Levon, Garth and the boys.B次元官网网址�

Not everyone was so lucky. Hawkins also had a reputation for rejecting the underperformers or underlings who didnB次元官网网址檛 mesh well with his band.

Grammy-winning producer David Foster was one of many who was booted by Hawkins for falling short of expectations.

B次元官网网址淗e said, B次元官网网址榊ou look like a cadaver on stage, I want people to look like theyB次元官网网址檙e having fun. YouB次元官网网址檙e not having any fun making my music,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� the Victoria-raised musician said during a 2017 interview.

B次元官网网址淪o he fired me, but weB次元官网网址檝e remained great friends. HeB次元官网网址檚 just one of those guys that attract good musicians B次元官网网址� We all still bow to him. HeB次元官网网址檚 not a great musician, heB次元官网网址檚 not a great singer, heB次元官网网址檚 not a great songwriter B次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檚 a great entertainer and heB次元官网网址檚 full of life and he taught us all a lot.B次元官网网址�

In 1969, the year that John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their famous B次元官网网址渂ed-inB次元官网网址� in Montreal to campaign for peace, the couple stayed on HawkinsB次元官网网址檚 farm in Mississauga, Ont., for a couple of weeks. They later took Hawkins on a train ride to Ottawa to see then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Lennon also recruited Hawkins as a peace emissary and together they went to China.

Throughout his career, Hawkins wrote roughly 500 songs and received numerous accolades and awards.

He won a Juno in 1982 for best country male vocalist for the album B次元官网网址淟egend In His Spare Time.B次元官网网址� He was honoured with a star on CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Walk of Fame in October 2002, where the Tragically HipB次元官网网址檚 Rob Baker thanked Hawkins because he took B次元官网网址渁spiring musicians and marinated them.B次元官网网址� He was also an Order of Canada recipient in 2014.

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While Hawkins went back to Arkansas for many winters, he said he considered Canada his home B次元官网网址� even though he was a landed immigrant.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no place in the world more beautiful than Canada. IB次元官网网址檝e made a lot of good friends here. A lot of outlaws,B次元官网网址� he said in 2000.

In 2002, Hawkins had a cancerous tumour removed from his pancreas, just three months after undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery. The story was captured in the 2004 TV documentary B次元官网网址淩onnie Hawkins: Still Alive and KickinB次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� in which he mused about one day meeting B次元官网网址渢he Big Rocker in the sky.B次元官网网址�

Within a month of the singer announcing his recovery, former U.S. president and fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton, Foster and Paul Anka joined a slew of HawkinsB次元官网网址檚 friends for a party in Toronto. The trio sang a tribute version of B次元官网网址淢y WayB次元官网网址� to the rocker.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Wanda, who he married in 1962, three grown children, Robbie, Leah and Ronnie Jr., as well as a raft of musicians who considered him a close friend.

B次元官网网址淗e took me and my band in like we were family,B次元官网网址� actor and singer Kris Kristofferson said at a 2002 tribute to Hawkins.

B次元官网网址淚f there is a rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll god, I know he looks just like this guy.B次元官网网址�

David Friend, The Canadian Press

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