Garth Hudson, the organist and multi-instrumentalist whose wizardry enhanced some of the best-known songs of 1960s and '70s rock group the Band including "Up on Cripple Creek," "Chest Fever" and "Ophelia,

Garth Hudson, the multi-instrumentalist who served as the principal architect of the Band's sound, has died at 87.

The Band's last living member, Garth Hudson, has died. He passed away Tuesday morning, while sleeping in a New York nursing home, outlets report. Hudson was 87 years old. The group began as backup musicians for Ronnie Hawkins (Levon and the The Hawks) and then Bob Dylan,

Garth Hudson, the Band’s virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Weight” and “Rag Mama Rag,