The death was announced in a statement by Mr. Robertson’s manager, Jared Levine. No other details were given.

Mr. Robertson was widely credited with helping forge a music genre known as Americana that fused folk, country and rock and leaned heavily on traditions of storytelling, contrasting with the emerging psychedelic sound in the 1960s.

Mr. Robertson played guitar on Bob Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde” album (1966) and was part of Dylan’s tour when many folk music purists were dismayed by Dylan’s use of electric guitar. Mr. Robertson then built the Band from some members of Dylan’s backing group but struggled to keep the group together as infighting and drug use threatened to tear them apart.

Their final show, held in 1976 at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, became the centerpiece of Scorsese’s 1978 film. Joining the Band onstage were performers including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Staple Singers.

This is a developing story and will be updated.