In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album "Dirt Farmer" earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked him No. 91 in its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2010, "Electric Dirt", his 2009 follow-up to "Dirt Farmer", won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010. In 2011, his live album "Ramble at the Ryman" won the Grammy in the same category. In 2016, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked him No. 22 in its list of 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.