Bob Weir, Grateful Dead Founding Member, Dies at 78

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bob Weir, founder and member of the band Grateful Dead and several music projects based in San Francisco, has passed away after battling cancer and lung disease. He passed away at the age of 78.

In an Instagram post shared by his family, it was mentioned that Weir was diagnosed with the illness in July 2025 and immediately underwent treatment for three weeks. After that, he performed in a concert with Dead & Company, a music group spawned from Grateful Dead.

Last Performance

Many fans believe that the live broadcast concert might have been an unannounced farewell show by the band, but few could have guessed the condition through which Weir was able to endure what turned out to be his final performance.

"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," his family said on Sunday, January 11, 2026, quoted from Instagram.

In the statement, his family described Weir as a typical artist who acted on his own will, making it difficult not to feel the echo of his way of life. "A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas," they wrote.

Legendary Works

As a songwriter, Weir created many songs that became staples of the Grateful Dead's concert repertoire. Most of these songs were co-written with his childhood friend, John Perry Barlow. His most famous compositions include Sugar Magnolia (a rare collaboration with fellow writer Garcia, Robert Hunter), Playing in the Band, One More Saturday Night, Cassidy, The Music Never Stopped, Estimated Prophet, and I Need a Miracle.

Weir was just 16 when he befriended Jerry Garcia, who was then a music teacher at an instrument store in Palo Alto, California, on New Year's Eve 1963. The two guitarists formed the traditional music group, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and shifted to electric music with the rock band The Warlocks before finally adopting the name Grateful Dead in 1965.

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