Bob Weir, guitarist, singer, and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.
Weir’s death was announced Saturday (Sunday AEDT) in a statement on his Instagram page.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
Weir helped form the Grateful Dead – originally the Warlocks – in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17-years-old.
He’d spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.
Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including Sugar Magnolia, One More Saturday Night and Mexicali Blues.
In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.
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“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram 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,” read the Instagram tribute.
“Bobby’s final months reflected the same spirit that defined his life. Diagnosed in July, he began treatment only weeks before returning to his hometown stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park.
“Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts. Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design.”
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Remembering the stars we’ve lost in 2025
Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member.
Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.
Dead and Company played a series of concerts for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Weir is survived by “his loving family, Natascha, Monet, and Chloe, [who] request privacy during this difficult time and offer their gratitude for the outpouring of love, support, and remembrance”.
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