What was Ronnie Hawkins known for? Rockabilly legend passes away at 87

Ronnie Hawkins, a musician, and impresario who helped discover and develop The Band and a slew of other musical acts that emerged from Toronto in the 60s and 70s, died on Sunday.

According to his wife, Wanda, Hawkins died Sunday morning at a hospital in Peterborough, Ontario. In recent years, he has been dealing with several health issues.

Ronnie Hawkins, a musician, did not make his name in the studio. Because he was not a natural songwriter, most of his recorded work consisted of covers. His highest-charting single in the United States reached No. 26.

On the other hand, his stage shows were raucous affairs marked by his booming voice, humorous stage patter, and acrobatic moves like his "camel walk."

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Exploring the legacy of the late Rockabilly artist Ronnie Hawkins

Ronnie Hawkins was born in Arkansas in 1935 and began traveling to Canada as a performer in the late 1950s, eventually settling in Mississauga and later in and around Peterborough.

He built the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville, Ark., after completing his military service, which became a famous stop for singers such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Conway Twitty.

Ronnie Hawkins finally gave himself first billing and began performing as Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, complete with slicked black hair and sideburns, to provide himself with a bad-boy image.

After a string of unsuccessful starts in his musical career, the singer-songwriter sought Twitty's counsel and embarked on a Canadian tour in 1958. He claimed that eager-to-play bands starved the country.

Hawkins' property in Mississauga, Ont., was where John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed for a couple of weeks in 1969, the year they held their famous "bed-in" in Montreal to lobby for peace. Hawkins was later taken on a train excursion to Ottawa to meet with then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Lennon also recruited him as a peace messenger, and the two went to China together.

He wrote around 500 songs during his career and garnered countless accolades and prizes. For the album Legend In His Spare Time, he received a Juno in 1982 for best country male vocalist.

He was given a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2002, and the Tragically Hip's Rob Baker commended him for taking "aspiring musicians and giving them a chance." In 2014, he was also awarded the Order of Canada.

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Ronnie Hawkins's health issues

He underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2002 and three months later had a malignant tumor removed from his pancreas. The incident was told in the 2004 television documentary Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin, in which he talked about meeting "the Big Rocker in the Sky" one day.

Hawkins lived on a 175-acre farm north of Peterborough, in a 5600-square-foot mansion, from 1962 to 2017. After selling a majority of his property for about $4 million, he and Wanda moved to another place in Peterborough.