Bob Dylan has commented on Levon Helm’s passing. In a rare personal post on his website, the legendary songwriter shared a short reflection on his former drummer:

He was my bosom buddy friend to the end, one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation. This is just so sad to talk about. I still can remember the first day I met him and the last day I saw him. We go back pretty far and had been through some trials together. I’m going to miss him, as I’m sure a whole lot of others will too.

Helm served as Dylan’s drummer on one of The Bard’s first electric outings. Though they at first only knew Dylan as a Woody Guthrie disciple, Helm and the rest of The Band signed on as his backing band in the mid ’60s and performed with Dylan during one of his most groundbreaking periods (though Helm dropped off tour for a while due to hostile crowds unhappy Dylan “plugged in”). In more recent years, Dylan and Helm shared a few festival bills with their respective bands.