Ramble on, Bob.
John Mayer delivered a touching eulogy for his friend and mentor, Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir, during an emotional public memorial held for the late guitarist in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon.
Weir, whom Mayer remembered as a “countercultural icon” and “maestro,” died from underlying lung issues on Jan. 10 after battling cancer. He was 78.
“Bobby and I were born on the same day, exactly 30 years apart. Libras,” the “Gravity” singer, 48, began from a makeshift stage in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. “While the astrology checks out, three decades is a pretty wide chasm between any two people, whether they share a birthday or not.”
“The echoes of the music Bobby and the Grateful Dead made would lead me to him, through whatever strange and nervy knack I have for sidling up next to the things I’m in awe of,” he continued. “What would follow would become the adventure of a lifetime for me.”
Mayer first connected with Weir during a performance they shared on “The Late Late Show” in Feb. 2015.
Later that year, the pair formed Dead & Company — a modern continuation of the Grateful Dead — with Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti.
“It’s hard to find the words to describe the relationship Bob and I had: we never really went looking for them. We didn’t need to,” Mayer continued. “We stood side by side together in the music. That’s where those 30 years would melt away and that Libra balance would kick in.”
“We’d become comrades, sometimes brothers, even if only by one shared parent,” he added. “We were unlikely partners, and that was part of our magic.”
The seven-time Grammy winner went on to remember Weir as a music “master” and acknowledged how he “shares in this sadness” with the “countless musicians who have shared a stage with Bobby.”
“After all we’d shared together, something new has arisen: a sadness so hard to put into words and nowhere near being fully realized,” he noted.
“We’ve only begun to make sense of what’s gone missing, and in the end, Bobby was right again,” Mayer said. “Because all we can do is hold on to this moment, and I don’t have the faintest idea of a plan.”
The “Waiting on the World to Change” hitmaker played alongside Weir from the inception of Dead & Company in Aug. 2015 until the legendary rocker’s passing last weekend.
Meyer and Weir last played together during a three-night run celebrating the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary at Golden Gate Park last August.
Weir was preceded in death by fellow Grateful Dead co-founder and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in Aug. 1995 at 53, and Grateful Dead co-founder and bassist Phil Lesh, who died in Oct. 2024 at 84.
“Bob had mentioned that Jerry had never really left him, that he still felt him up on his shoulder, and now Bob will be forever perched over my shoulder,” Mayer shared.
“I expect to see him in my dreams for many nights to come, when we’ll take that stage together with the rest of the band and weave notes around one another, and I will wake up with a smile, remembering the beauty of it all,” he added.
The “Your Body Is a Wonderland” singer wound down his heartwarming eulogy with lyrics from Leon Russell’s 1970 hit “A Song for You.”
“But now I’m so much better, so if my words don’t come together, listen to the melody because my love is in there hiding,” Mayer recited.
“And so we will all keep listening together. 300 years, Bobby, now that’s a plan I can get behind,” he concluded. “So here’s something I know would make Bobby go. Thank you, Maestro. You changed my life. I will love you forever. Thank you.”
Following his remarks, Mayer led a touching rendition of the Grateful Dead classic “Ripple” with the massive crowd.
The public memorial for the late “Sugar Magnolia” and “Sunshine Daydream” guitarist in San Francisco this weekend came one week after Weir’s loved ones announced his sudden death via a post to the beloved musician’s Instagram.
Weir’s death came just over 60 years after he first joined the Grateful Dead, then called the Warlocks, in 1965 at the age of 17.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement read alongside a sweet photo of Weir smiling while playing guitar onstage.
“He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could,” they continued. “Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
The lengthy statement remembered Weir as a “guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead” and added that he will “forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”
“His work did more than fill rooms with music,” Weir’s loved ones said, “it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them.”
Saturday’s public memorial was attended by thousands of Grateful Dead fans who gathered to pay tribute to the late “Playing in the Band” guitarist.
After four Buddhist monks opened the event with a prayer in Tibetan, Joan Baez and Mayer spoke.
Weir’s wife of 26 years, Natascha Münter, and the couple’s two daughters, Monet and Chloe, also shared some sweet words about the late musician.
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