Posted on 01/10/2026 4:30:37 PM PST by nickcarraway
Bob Weir, a founding member of the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 78, his family announced Saturday.
"It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir," his family wrote in a post to his Instagram page. "He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues."
In the statement, the family disclosed that Weir had been diagnosed with cancer in July.
"As we remember Bobby, it's hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived," his family wrote. "A man driftin' and dreamin', never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas."
Weir formed the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia after the two met in 1963 as teens in Palo Alto, California. The band, with its unique mix of blues, folk and jazz, became a touring powerhouse for decades until Garcia's death in 1995.
Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and "Mexicali Blues."
The group eventually reformed a few years after Garcia's death and took many iterations over the years, the latest as Dead & Company.
"For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road," his family's statement said. "A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music. His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them."
RIP.
My college roomate got me started appreciating the Dead catalog (and the many side projects) more than I had up till then, although “Blues for Allah” side one was in heavy rotation on my car cassette player before then.
Saw them several times over the years - as well as “Dead and Company”, Garcia band, etc.
I really liked the version of Truckin’ on the Europe ‘72 album.
...found a great video of it from 1972 that highlights the tremendous energy that they had in live performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IORPscB3vbc
Just brilliant
It means hard to find their intricate harmony singing with the neighborhood boys on the porch. They we’re great musicians
Technically
If Tom Comsantin is dead
Bob really opens up in this interview from last year (see link below).
I was amazed at what happened to him 10 years after his adoptive parents died, when he got “an astonishing phone call” (from his birth mother), and 10 years after that when he met his biological father!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw2fYej162M&t=365s
No. The last original founding member is drummer Bill Kreutzmann . The second drummer. Mickey Hart joined the band in late 1967 after a four year stint in The Air Force. Hart was born in The Bronx.
He was also a master black belt in karate.
Rest in peace Bob. Thanks for all the great fun and great music.
No. It came from a collection of English folk tales.
Ron “Pigpen’’ Mckernan, Keith Godchaux, Brett Midland.
Speak ill of the dead? Class . Check into the charity work the Dead did.
My first Dead show was The Fillmore East 4/29/71.
“My first Dead show was The Fillmore East 4/29/71.”
Well. That is something
Hats off
April. Manhattan, 1971
I imagine it was great
.
It sure was.
Sense of humor 😁
He’s still alive so only him but he was brief
Kruetzmann and Hart later
Lesh
Pig
Jerry
Donna
Brent
Keith
Hunter
All dead
Hornsby later but still alive
That’s the historical line ups
The band was Jerry and Hunter the writer
Dead head here I prefer the pigpen blues psychedlia country era
Kind of creedance on jazzy acid vision of American west and south thru hunters wordsmithing and keseys fuel and a wee Cassidy energy and Owsley sound
Made u travel On The Road while listening
Wish I was a light on a southbound train into cool Colorado rain …paraphrased
Glad I knew em
Eras are closing the books fast now
Hattip MKULTRA
and LaHonda
:(
Looks Like Rain
RIP, Bob
Old joke but us deadheads are used to it.
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