Rick Danko Found Dead In His Upstate N.Y. Home

Rick Danko, bass player for The Band, was found dead in his Marbletown, N.Y., home this morning (12/10). His death came a day after his 56th birthday.

Woodstock, N.Y., radio station WDST reported that Danko's wife found him dead in bed this morning. An Uster County medical examiner told Reuters that the cause of death was not immediately known, but that it was not considered suspicious. His weight had reportedly risen to more than 300 pounds in recent years.

Danko had just released his first solo CD in nearly two decades, ''Live On Breeze Hill,'' to benefit Greenpeace. He released his self-titled debut album in 1978.

The Band came to prominence as backup musicians for Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, after Dylan shocked folk music purists by unveiling his electric sound. The Band's original members also included Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson, and the late Richard Manuel (who committed suicide while on tour with The Band in 1986).

The Band split in 1976 following a farewell concert that was documented on record and in the Martin Scorsese film ''The Last Waltz.'' Danko, Helm and Hudson reformed The Band without Robertson on several occasions, first in 1982. This summer, Danko and Hudson performed at a concert held on the Bethel, N.Y., site of the original Woodstock festival, 30 years after The Band played the event.

The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

A native of Simcoe, Ontario, who later moved to the U.S., Danko made headlines two years ago when he was found guilty of smuggling heroin into Japan. He received a suspended sentence.

Danko is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and children Lisa, 30 and Justin, 28.