Robbie Robertson’s legacy will continue to live on in a newly announced memoir, titled Insomnia. The late rock legend details the story of his longtime friend and collaborator, Martin Scorsese, following his New York Times bestselling memoir, 2016’s Testimony.
Robertson’s story with Scorsese goes back a long way. For four decades, the musician produced music for the director’s films. Robertson was the songwriter and founding member of the Americana pioneers The Band. Their creative partnership began when Robertson convinced Scorsese to direct The Last Waltz, the iconic film of the Band’s farewell performance at the Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving 1976.
“Both men, already culture-transforming stars before the age of 35, stood at a creative precipice, searching for the beginning of a new phase of life and work,” the book’s synopsis reads. “As their friendship deepened into a career-altering collaboration, their shared journey would take them around the world and down the rabbit hole of American culture in the long hangover of the 70s.”
Insomnia also features memories with entertainers like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Federico Fellini, Sophia Loren, Sam Fuller, Liza Minelli, and Tuesday Weld.
When Robertson passed away in 2023 in Los Angeles after a long illness, Scorsese paid homage: “Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work. I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him. It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie.”
Buy Robbie Robertson’s memoir, Insomnia, now.
