Legendary Canadian keyboardist Richard Bell, once a member of Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band and keyboardist in the most recent incarnation of The Band, has died in Toronto aged 62 after a long fight with cancer.
Son of Leslie Bell, a leading choir conductor and composer in Canada, Richard began his professional music career in sixties Toronto-based band Last Words. He then collaborated with rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, before joining Joplin's backing band in 1969, and working with her in the year before her death in 1970, including appearing on her posthumously released album 'Pearl'.
He later worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Cockburn, Bonnie Raitt, Judy Collins, Cowboy Junkies, Michael Kaeshammer and Joe Walsh before taking over the keyboardist role in The Band in 1991 following the death of Stan Szelest.