SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Bob Weir, one of the founding members of The Grateful Dead, has died at 78 years old. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: The Haight-Ashbury scene of the 1960s rejected conventional American society, and Bob Weir became one of its most prominent ambassadors. He was born in 1947 and grew up in a San Francisco suburb. He had undiagnosed dyslexia and got kicked out of multiple schools. By the time he was 17, he dropped out and joined the circus of a kind - playing guitar in a jug band, led by Jerry Garcia. It became The Grateful Dead in 1965.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COLD RAIN AND SNOW")
THE GRATEFUL DEAD: (Singing) Well, she's comin' down the stairs combin' back her yellow hair.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In a 2022 interview with NPR, Weir described the origins of his songs using the phrase hippie metaphysics.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
BOB WEIR: They're visitors from another world, another dimension or whatever you want to call it, that come through the artists to visit this world, have a look around, tell their stories.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: For decades, The Grateful Dead amassed a loyal following that trailed them on tour and traded bootleg tapes. Weir composed and sang many of the band's most notable songs, including "Sugar Magnolia," "Playing In The Band" and "One More Saturday Night." His full-throated and fiery vocals were the perfect foil to Garcia's mellowed out style.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT")
THE GRATEFUL DEAD: (Singing) Hey, Saturday night. Hey, Saturday night.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: The Grateful Dead officially came to an end with Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. But for the three decades that followed, Weir dedicated himself to carrying the band's legacy forward. In 2024, he reflected on being embraced by the mainstream.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WEIR: Back not so long ago, we were sort of outsiders. Now, all that's kind of changed.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: By refusing to conform, Bob Weir helped create an American sound unlike any other. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLAYING IN THE BAND")
THE GRATEFUL DEAD: (Singing) Daybreak on the land. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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