Watch Bob Weir Perform ‘Touch of Grey’ with Dead and Co. at His Final Live Appearance
Nobody knew it at the time, but Weir was diagnosed with cancer weeks before the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary shows in Golden Gate Park
Flashback
Nobody knew it at the time, but Weir was diagnosed with cancer weeks before the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary shows in Golden Gate Park
The music world was busy mourning David Bowie on the 10-year anniversary of his death on Saturday when the devastating word hit that we lost another icon of almost indescribable significance to rock history: Bob Weir.
“He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could,” the Weir family wrote in a public statement. “Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
The road was Weir’s home from the moment the Grateful Dead formed in 1965 all the way through last summer. His projects outside the Grateful Dead included RatDog, Furthur, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros, and Dead & Company. At almost any given time, he had shows on the books with at least one of them.
“The interesting thing is, I’ve never made plans,” he told Rolling Stone‘s Angie Martoccio last March. “And I’m not about to, because I’m too damn busy doing other stuff, trying to get the sound right, trying to get the right chords, trying to get the right words, trying to get all that stuff together for the storytelling. And really, making plans seems like a waste of time. Because nothing ever works out like you expected it to, no matter who you are. So why bother?”
Dead & Co. wrapped up a farewell tour in July 2023, but they continued to play residencies at Sphere in Las Vegas throughout 2024 and 2025. And they came together one last time in August 2025 for three shows in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary. Throughout the three evenings, they were joined by Billy Strings, Trey Anastasio, Grahame Lesh, and Sturgill Simpson.
These were joyous concerts filled with Deadheads from around the globe, but Weir was holding a secret: He was diagnosed with cancer weeks earlier, and had just started treatment. “Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts,” the Weir family wrote. “Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design.”
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The final night wrapped up with “Touch of Grey,” perhaps the most famous tune in the Dead songbook. Weir sang lead, and the band stretched it out for nearly eight minutes. At the end, Weir took a group bow with the full band, waved to the crowd, and then took a special bow with Mickey Hart, the only other original member of the Dead in Dead & Co., before they walked off together. It was his final live appearance.