Weir kept the Dead's music truckin'

Over the decades, the guitarist became keeper of his band's legendary status.

- MIKAEL WOOD

FRONTMAN Jerry Garcia, left, and Bob Weir perform with the Grateful Dead in London in 1972.

In June 2024, I sat with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and John Mayer backstage at Sphere in Las Vegas, where Dead & Company was 16 shows into a raved-about weekend residency that would ultimately stretch to the middle of 2025.

At one point, I asked the three what they did between gigs. Hart said he was on a plane home to California every Saturday night: "I leave here at 11:30, and by 2 o'clock it's lights out." Mayer echoed his bandmate, describing his attempt to “go back to my life” in Los Angeles on Mondays.

Not Weir, though. Turned out the guitarist had rented a place in town and was spending his days off soaking up whatever there was to soak up under the hot desert sun.

“Thought I'd stick around,” he said with a little shrug.

Weir's answer came to mind when news broke Saturday that the founding member of the Grateful Dead had died at 78 after being diagnosed with cancer in July.