Bob Weir, the veteran rock musician who helped steer the Grateful Dead through six decades of musical evolution and cultural influence, has died aged 78, according to a statement posted on his verified Instagram account on Friday.
The statement, shared by his daughter Chloe Weir, said he died surrounded by family. Weir had been diagnosed with cancer in July and later succumbed to underlying lung complications.
“Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music,” Chloe Weir wrote. “There is no final curtain here, not really. Only the sense of someone setting off again.”
She asked for privacy for the family and thanked fans for their support. “May we honour him not only in sorrow, but in how bravely we continue with open hearts, steady steps, and the music leading us home,” she said.
Weir had reflected on mortality in a 2019 interview with GQ magazine, saying he viewed death without fear. “I take it fairly lightly,” he said. “I don’t know how much of a divide death puts between us and the hereafter.”
Alongside fellow Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia, Weir was one of the band’s two principal frontmen and vocalists for most of its 60-year history. Garcia’s death in 1995 left Weir as the most visible custodian of the group’s legacy.
Weir sang the verses on the band’s signature song Truckin’ and wrote or co-wrote several of their best-known tracks, including Sugar Magnolia, Playing in the Band and Jack Straw.
Once known as the youthful, ponytailed “Bobby”, he matured into an unconventional songwriter and performer whose musical range and stage presence helped widen the band’s appeal. The Independent once described him as “arguably rock’s greatest, if most eccentric, rhythm guitarist”.
After Garcia’s death, Weir pursued a solo career, most notably with his band RatDog, and took part in various Grateful Dead reunions featuring surviving members in different line-ups.
Tributes poured in from across the music world. Sean Ono Lennon shared a photograph of himself performing with Weir, writing: “It was a great pleasure and a privilege to know you, brother.”
Michael Franti of Spearhead paid tribute in a lengthy post, recalling their shared performances. “He was always eager, wildly curious, and ready to try anything,” he wrote. “Growing up in the Bay Area, Bobby was such an icon. It’s hard to think of him not being there.”
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Nancy Wilson of Heart and Lee Ranaldo, formerly of Sonic Youth, were among many other musicians who also shared their condolences.
Weir was born Robert Hall Parber on 16 October 1947. He was placed for adoption and raised by his adoptive parents in Atherton, California, south of San Francisco.
He began playing guitar at the age of 13 and became immersed in the Bay Area folk scene, performing bluegrass music in local clubs. It was at the Palo Alto club Tangent that he first saw Jerry Garcia playing the banjo.
The pair met in 1964 and began performing together as the Warlocks, a group that soon evolved into the Grateful Dead, one of the most enduring and influential bands in American music history.
