Bob Weir, Founding Grateful Dead Guitarist, Dies at 78

Bob Weir, a guitarist and songwriter who was a founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at 78, his family said. The family statement said Mr. Weir had "succumbed to underlying lung issues" after receiving a cancer diagnosis in July; the statement did not say when or where he died.

Over a career that spanned more than six decades, Mr. Weir helped shape the Grateful Dead’s sound with inventive rhythm guitar and songwriting contributions to songs such as "Playing in the Band" and "Sugar Magnolia," and he sings the verses in the band’s signature hit "Truckin'." The band, formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, blended rock, folk, blues and country and became known for extended improvisation and a devoted fan base known as Deadheads.

Mr. Weir was born Robert Hall Parber on Oct. 16, 1947, was raised in Atherton, Calif., after being adopted, and first played with Jerry Garcia in a jug band that eventually evolved into the Grateful Dead. The group — which became house band at Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests and was early financial and technical beneficiary of Owsley Stanley — moved through psychedelic experiments and more stripped-down country-rock, and after Garcia’s 1995 death its surviving members continued in projects like the Other Ones and Dead & Company, including shows at Sphere in Las Vegas in 2024 and 2025.

Mr. Weir was a 2024 Kennedy Center honoree and received a Grammy lifetime achievement award and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Key Topics

Culture, Bob Weir, Grateful Dead, San Francisco, Jerry Garcia, Deadheads