As it turns out the Grateful Dead were quietly gearing up for a 60th-anniversary reunion— that was until life had other plans.
The iconic Californian rock band were hoping to get the surviving members back together to mark the milestone, but bassist and co-founder Phil Lesh passed away in October at the age of 84. According to a statement from his family, Lesh “passed peacefully” surrounded by love and affection.
In an interview recorded just five days after Lesh’s death, Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart opened up about these unfinished plans. Speaking to CBS This Morning, they shared that rehearsals were already penciled in. “I was hoping that we could play with him again one more time,” Kreutzmann wistfully said. “That, that was my sadness… ’Cause I know he wanted to play with us again too.”
Weir later chimed in, adding that the band had planned to “kick some songs around” the day after the bassist’s passing. “We were gonna see where it goes,” he said. “But we were just gonna play the four of us.” It’s a bittersweet what-if for fans of the legendary band, whose chemistry on stage continues to remain unmatched.
Even without Lesh, the Dead’s legacy remains alive and well. Next month, the group will be honoured at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honours. Meanwhile, Jerry Garcia’s voice has also been resurrected—well, sort of. Through a partnership with ElevenLabs, an AI voice platform, Garcia’s voice will now narrate audiobooks, e-books, fan stories, and more in 32 languages.
So while the 60th-anniversary jam may have been cut short, the Dead continue to keep finding new ways to stay in the cultural conversation. For a band whose motto has always been “what a long, strange trip it’s been,” it seems to track now more than ever.
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