The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir has died of an underlying lung condition after battling cancer. He was 78.
The legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter passed away on 10 January, his family announced via his Instagram account.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir. He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
The statement went on, “For over 60 years, Bobby took to the road. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller and founding member of the Grateful Dead, Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”
Diagnosed with cancer in July last year, Weir began treatment weeks before returning to the stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California.
“Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts,” his family shared. “Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design.
“There is no final curtain here, not really. Only the sense of someone setting off again. And so we send him off the way he sent so many of us on our way: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, but a blessing. A reward for a life worth livin’.”
Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his bandmates in 1994, and was a Kennedy Centre Honoree in 2024.
He is survived by his wife, Natascha, and their two daughters.
