Bob Weir — January 10, 2026

Bob Weir didn’t just play in a band. He helped invent a way of being an American musician. As co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the Grateful Dead, he stood beside Jerry Garcia for thirty years on a journey that became one of the most enduring road shows in rock history. His co-written songs, including “Sugar Magnolia,” “Playing in the Band,” and “Cassidy,” became standards in a touring tradition that turned generations of fans into a kind of extended family.

After Garcia’s death in 1995, Weir kept the music alive through RatDog and the immensely successful Dead and Company, drawing in younger fans who had only ever heard their parents’ Dead bootlegs. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024. Bob Weir passed away at the age of 78, the last great elder statesman of a uniquely American musical movement.