Bob Weir — the guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Lifeless — has died … in accordance with an announcement posted to his official Instagram account.
In response to the put up … Weir handed away whereas surrounded by family members as a result of an underlying lung difficulty after he beat most cancers.
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Weir was apparently recognized with most cancers over the summer time shortly earlier than acting at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for 3 reveals celebrating the Grateful Lifeless’s sixtieth anniversary.
The household goes on to say Bob usually spoke of the Grateful Lifeless’s lasting legacy … including he imagined the songs would dwell on for a whole bunch of years.
They write, “Could that dream dwell on by way of future generations of Lifeless Heads. And so we ship him off the best way he despatched so many people on our manner: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, however a blessing. A reward for a life value livin’.”
When Weir was simply 16 years outdated, he famously adopted the sounds of a banjo right into a Palo Alto, California music retailer the place he discovered Jerry Garcia strumming the instrument.
The 2 performed music collectively all night time … and finally determined to type the group which might later be often known as the Grateful Lifeless. They — together with Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh and Invoice Kreutzmann — had been the founding 5 members of the group.
Weir spent the subsequent three many years — moreover a quick interval in late 1968 when he and McKernan had been left off the band’s roster — taking part in rhythm guitar and infrequently singing songs for the Lifeless.
Throughout his time within the band, the group launched 13 studio albums, many singles and performed sold-out reveals all around the world extensively attended by their devoted fanbase the “Deadheads.”
The Grateful Lifeless formally got here to an finish in 1995 after Garcia’s loss of life … although Weir performed with The Different Ones and The Lifeless — successive teams made up of Grateful Lifeless members — over the subsequent 20 years. Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame as a member of the Grateful Lifeless in 1994.
Weir additionally struck out on his personal by founding the music group Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros in 2018 … famously taking part in a sequence of reveals with symphony orchestras on the Kennedy Middle in 2022.
Like many members of the Grateful Lifeless, Weir additionally cared about social points — he was a longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist.
Weir is survived by his spouse Natascha Münter and their two kids, Monet and Chloe, who’re asking for privateness at the moment.
Bob was 78.
RIP
