Helm remained with the The Band through their farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. The performance was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the critically acclaimed documentary The Last Waltz.
Along with the other members of The Band, Helm was initially a member of The Hawks, the backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. After they split with Hawkins in 1963 over creative differences, they were known briefly as Levon & The Hawks. Bob Dylan then hired the group as his backing band, but Helm, discouraged by fans' negative reaction to Dylan's new "electric" music, left. He returned in 1967; The Band's debut album, Music from Big Pink, came out in 1968.
In addition to music, Helm dabbled in acting and appeared in movies like Coal Miner's Daughter, The Right Stuff, Feeling Minnesota and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.