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Bob Weir — the guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Useless — has died … in accordance with an announcement posted to his official Instagram account.
In response to the put up … Weir handed away whereas surrounded by family members as a consequence of an underlying lung problem after he beat most cancers.
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Weir was apparently identified with most cancers over the summer time shortly earlier than acting at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for 3 reveals celebrating the Grateful Useless’s sixtieth anniversary.
The household goes on to say Bob usually spoke of the Grateful Useless’s lasting legacy … including he imagined the songs would stay on for a whole lot of years.
They write, “Could that dream stay on by future generations of Useless Heads. And so we ship him off the way in which he despatched so many people on our manner: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, however a blessing. A reward for a life value livin’.”
When Weir was simply 16 years outdated, he famously adopted the sounds of a banjo right into a Palo Alto, California music retailer the place he discovered Jerry Garcia strumming the instrument.
The 2 performed music collectively all evening … and ultimately determined to kind the group which might later be often called the Grateful Useless. They — together with Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh and Invoice Kreutzmann — have been the founding 5 members of the group.
Weir spent the following three a long time — in addition to a quick interval in late 1968 when he and McKernan have been left off the band’s roster — taking part in rhythm guitar and infrequently singing songs for the Useless.
Throughout his time within the band, the group launched 13 studio albums, many singles and performed sold-out reveals everywhere in the world extensively attended by their devoted fanbase the “Deadheads.”
The Grateful Useless formally got here to an finish in 1995 after Garcia’s demise … although Weir performed with The Different Ones and The Useless — successive teams made up of Grateful Useless members — over the following twenty years. Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame as a member of the Grateful Useless in 1994.
Weir additionally struck out on his personal by founding the music group Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros in 2018 … famously taking part in a collection of reveals with symphony orchestras on the Kennedy Heart in 2022.
Like many members of the Grateful Useless, Weir additionally cared about social points — he was a longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist.
Weir is survived by his spouse Natascha Münter and their two kids, Monet and Chloe, who’re asking for privateness at the moment.
Bob was 78.
RIP
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