Robbie Robertson, The Band's lead guitarist and songwriter, has died aged 80, his publicist has said.

Robertson died surrounded by family in Los Angeles after a long illness, publicist Ray Costa said in a statement.

From their years as Bob Dylan's masterful backing group to their own stardom as embodiments of old-fashioned community and virtuosity, The Band profoundly influenced popular music in the 1960s and '70s, first by literally amplifying Dylan's polarising transition from folk artist to rock star and then by absorbing some of Dylan's own influences as they fashioned a new sound immersed in the American past.

The Canadian-born Robertson was a high school dropout who fell in love with the seemingly limitless sounds and byways of his adopted country and wrote out of a sense of amazement and discovery at a time when the Vietnam War had alienated millions of young Americans.

Tributes have poured in for the famous star. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Neil Diamond paid tribute to Robertson, who produced his album Beautiful Noise.

He wrote: "The music world lost a great one with the passing of Robbie Robertson. Keep making that Beautiful Noise in the sky, Robbie. I'll miss you."

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Robbie Robertson attends a Town Hall with SiriusXM (Photo: Getty)

Former US president Bill Clinton said: "Robbie Robertson was a brilliant songwriter, guitarist, and composer whose gifts changed music forever.

"I'm grateful for all the good memories he gave me-going back to his time in the Hawks when I was a teenager-and for his kindness through the years. I'll miss him."

Musician and actor Kiefer Sutherland wrote: "The loss of Robbie Robertson is heartbreaking. Canada has lost an icon, and music has lost a poet and a scholar."

Canadian musician Bryan Adams wrote: "RIP Robbie Robertson. Thanks for the amazing music and the great hangs, especially photographing you in LA not so long ago."

Born to a Cayuga and Mohawk mother on a native American reservation outside Ontario, Robertson was not aware of his Jewish father until he was a teenager. Alexander David Klegerman died before his son was born, and Robertson's mother married a factory worker, James Robertson, who he believed was his biological parent.

His deceased father's brothers, Natie and Morrie Klegerman, he later discovered, were prominent members of the Toronto Jewish underworld.

Speaking in the 2019 documentary Once Were Brothers, singer Ronnie Hawkins, who assembled The Band, claimed: "Robbie's dad was a Hebrew gangster."

Robertson added that when he met his uncles: “I’m [finally] understanding what’s been stirring inside of me all this time.

“They understand vision. They understand ambition. When I told the Klegermans I had musical ambitions, they were like, ‘Rock ‘n’ roll? You don’t want to be in furs and diamonds?’

“And then they were like, ‘Oh, you mean show business!”

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Bob Dylan and The Band, featuring Robbie Robertson, perform at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1969. (Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

After he gained a reputation as a virtuoso guitarist, Robertson and his bandmates, having provided backup for Hawkins, reformed as the The Band.

Fusing folk, rock, jazz and country, they toured with Bob Dylan after he went electric in 1965.

The Band, critic Bruce Eder wrote, went on to become, “one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world.”

Sharing footage of rock documentary The Last Waltz, which featured him and The Band, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood wrote: "Such sad news about Robbie Robertson - he was a lovely man, a great friend and will be dearly missed."

Released in 1978, Eric Clapton, Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Sir Ringo Starr also were among the musicians to appear in the Scorsese directed film.

Robertson also contributed to soundtracks for Scorsese films including The Departed, The Irishman, The Colour Of Money, and The King Of Comedy.

A statement from Robertson's family posted online read: "Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine's partner Kenny.

"In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support the building of their new cultural centre."