Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir has died at age 80,according to reports confirmed February 7,2024. The news arrives just weeks after the passing of another foundational member, drummer Mickey Hart. Weir’s longtime bandmate and friend, Bill Kreutzmann, penned a tribute reflecting on their decades-long musical journey and the enduring spirit of The Grateful Dead, which has been widely shared online. The following is an excerpt from kreutzmann’s full remembrance, detailing the band’s early days, Weir’s musical impact, and a final farewell to a cherished friend.
With the passing of Bob Weir on January 10th, drummer Bill Kreutzmann is now the sole surviving original member of The Grateful Dead. Formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, a suburb of San Francisco, California, the band initially went by the name The Warlocks before officially becoming The Grateful Dead by late 1965.
Other founding members included singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh, and keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. McKernan died in 1973, Garcia in 1995, and Lesh in 2024.
(Related: Bob Dylan and former Grateful Dead members are among the musicians paying tribute to late guitarist Bob Weir)
Kreutzmann has shared a lengthy tribute to Weir on social media. In the heartfelt post, the 79-year-old drummer reminisces about the band’s early days, his close friendship with Weir, his respect for Bob’s musical talent, and more. The post also includes a series of archival photos of Bill and Bob together.
“Jerry Garcia was already playing music with Bob Weir in a band called Mother McCree’s when he called me to form a rock and roll band with him. That’s the first time I met Bob,” Kreutzmann begins. “We called ourselves The Warlocks, and we played our first real gig at a pizza parlor in Menlo Park, and pretty soon (with a few twists and turns in between)… we became The Grateful Dead.”
He continued, “Together, we embarked on a journey with no destination. We didn’t plan to change the world, or become big stars, or create our own counterculture – we didn’t even know if any of those things were actually possible, and even if we did, we weren’t all that interested. Well, not much anyway. Just enough to dream about it.”
Reflections on the Early, Fun-Loving Days of The Grateful Dead
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Kreutzmann then reflected on the bond that initially brought the band members together.
“We were a gang, in that we were five friends trying to have as much fun as humanly possible,” he explained. “And that meant playing music and all the other things that go with that: acid, drugs, and travel.”
Bill also shared that he and Weir were the youngest members of the group, and that he and Bob “loved to joke around, be silly, and not take ourselves too seriously.”
Kreutzmann recalls that as The Grateful Dead began to gain popularity, buses would transport tourists to the homes where band members lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, hoping to snap a photo.
“Bob and I would enjoy throwing water balloons at each other, so one day we started throwing them at the tour buses,” Bill remembers. “It didn’t end well, but thinking about it after all these years makes me smile, because it was a time when every day felt like a great American adventure.”
He added, “Nothing was more important than having fun, and nothing was more fun than playing music. Especially when the audience started to come and we’d go out and see a bunch of people dancing. Once that happened, that’s all we wanted to do. We didn’t want to stop. That was our real first goal – just keep going.”
The Grateful Dead’s Enduring Passion for Music
Kreutzmann then noted that the love of playing music continued throughout the lives of all the remaining members of The Grateful Dead. The band disbanded after Garcia’s death in 1995, but Weir and the other surviving members continued to play and record with each other in various configurations and with other musicians.
“And so for sixty years, the music never stopped,” he said. “That was true for all of us, together and apart, but when Bob stepped off the path, he just wanted to get back to it. In the meantime, he’d stop at any bar or club where someone was playing and let him sit in. He always seemed to be on some kind of stage, somewhere.”
Regarding the relationship between the band members, Bill wrote, “Offstage, we were everything you’d expect from lifelong friends and bandmates. We fought with each other (whether on the same side or opposing sides), we celebrated with each other (whether personal or professional accomplishments), and we saw each other through thick and thin as we went from teenagers to old men and all the stops in between.”
Weir’s Musical Talent and Lasting Influence
Kreutzmann then considered Weir’s talent as a musician, as well as the talent of his other bandmates in the Dead.
Bill recalls, “I once heard Bobby call himself ‘the greatest rhythm guitarist in the world’ and it made me laugh at my brother’s boastfulness.” “The thing is… he might have been right. Time has proven that no one will ever replace Jerry Garcia or Phil Lesh, and time will prove the same for Bob Weir. More than any other drummer, he had the biggest impact on my playing, and he will have the biggest impact on everything I do from here on out.”
Kreutzmann suggested that he believes that “tomorrow’s artists and visionaries” should take the influence and inspiration of The Grateful Dead and “make something new and original out of it.”
Final Thoughts on Weir and His Legacy
As he neared the conclusion of his tribute, Kreutzmann wrote, “There are many people who can rightfully say that their lives wouldn’t have been what they were without Bob Weir. That was true for me since I was 17 years old. And through it all, through the highs and the lows, my love for him will never diminish.”
He added, “In the end, what else was he going to do? He played it all… and not the same way, twice. I think he finally said all he had to say and now he’s on his way to the next thing. I just wish he could bring his guitar with him or he’s going to go crazy.”
Kreutzmann quoted a few lines from The Grateful Dead’s 1971 song “Bird Song,” written by songwriter Robert Hunter after Janis Joplin’s death: “Sleep in the stars. Don’t cry. Dry your eyes in the wind.”
Bill concluded poignantly, “And you reach there safely, old friend. I will love you forever.”
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic)
