Bob Weir was an icon of the ’60s who remained a groundbreaking live performer into his late-70s. That was especially true in Las Vegas, where he led Dead & Company’s dazzling residency production at Sphere.
Weir died Saturday at the age of 78, announced by the rock legend’s Instagram account.
“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.”
The “Dead Forever” show at Sphere ran for 48 shows from May 2024 to May 2025, a hit production that grossed more than $131 million. The production won Pollstar’s Residency of the Year Award.
The show signature effects were the astonishing opening and close, in which the virtual camera pulled back from a tight view of a row of Victorian houses in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district, dating to the band’s infancy. The shot moved out, up, rising through clouds, into the borders of the universe, it seems. “Shakedown Street” was the number. The segment was repeated but in reverse, from outer space descending to that house and Grateful Dead’s very roots.
Weir, recording star John Mayer, longtime Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and percussionist Jay Lane made up the band.
Weir and the Grateful Dead, which he co-founded in the Bay Area in 1965, played several shows in Las Vegas dating back to a 1969 gig at Ice Palace at the Commercial Center. The famed psychedelic rockers played Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in 1981, ‘83 and ‘84; and a 14-show series at Sam Boyd Stadium from 1991 to 1995.
Weir also took the stage with Sammy Hagar, his good friend and Mill Valley neighbor in the Bay Area, twice in Las Vegas. He joined a Hagar show at The Strat Showroom in 2021. Weir went on a characteristically wild ride “into the woods,” as Hagar termed it, performing extended versions of “Good Lovin’,” “Not Fade Away” and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”
In May 2025, the two jammed again on “Bad Motor Scooter” during Hagar’s “Best of All Worlds” show at Dolby Live.
Afterward, an elated Hagar said, “Bob is so much fun. He loves to play music, is game for anything and a great hang as well.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.