Robbie Robertson died in August 2023 at age 80, but a new memoir written by the famed guitarist and principal songwriter of The Band is slated to be published this fall. The book, titled Insomnia, tells the story of Robertson’s four-decade friendship and collaborative partnership with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
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Insomnia will be released on November 11, and can be pre-ordered now.
Robertson began working with Scorsese when he convinced the director to document The Band’s star-studded 1976 farewell show. The result was the classic 1978 concert film and documentary The Last Waltz.
At the same that The Band was breaking up, Robbie’s marriage also was ending. Scorsese, who also was going through a divorce at the time, invited Robertson to move in with him at his home in Beverly Hills. The two began working on film projects together, with Robertson overseeing and/or writing the music for Scorsese’s movies. During the late 1970s, the friends also partied and overindulged together, while mingling with various other celebrities.
Insomnia features anecdotes that also include various actors and other filmmakers, among them Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Federico Fellini, Sophia Loren, Sam Fuller, Liza Minelli, Tuesday Weld, and many more.
According to an official description of Insomnia, the book offers “an intimate portrait of a remarkable creative friendship between two titans of American arts, one that would explore the outer limits of excess and experience before returning to tell the tale.”
Insomnia is a follow-up to Robertson’s 2016 memoir Testimony. That book told Robbie’s life story from his childhood to The Band’s breakup.
More About Robertson’s Collaborations with Scorsese
The list of Scorsese films to which Robertson contributed his musical talents includes Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), The Color of Money (1986), Gangs of New York (2002), Shutter Island (2010), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2016), The Irishman (2019), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
Robbie received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his score for Killers of the Flower Moon. He also nabbed Grammy nominations for the Gangs of New York and The Wolf of Wall Street soundtracks.
Posthumous Tributes to Robertson
After Roberton’s death, Scorsese hosted a tribute event in Robbie’s honor in November 2023 in Los Angeles. The event featured performances by Jackson Browne, Citizen Cope, and others.
Scorsese also filmed an all-star tribute concert for Robertson that took place in October 2024 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The show’s impressive lineup included Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Mavis Staples, The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Mike Campbell, Eric Church, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Jim James, Jamey Johnson, Daniel Lanois, Margo Price, Lucinda Williams, and more.
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