John Mayer delivers tearful eulogy for late Grateful Dead co-founder…
Ramble on, Bob.
John Mayer delivered a touching eulogy for his buddy 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 points on Jan. 10 after battling cancer. He was 78.
John Mayer delivers remarks during a public memorial for Bob Weir in San Francisco on Jan. 17, 2026. AP
Weir performs during a MusiCares event on Jan. 31, 2025. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
“Bobby and I were born on the same day, exactly 30 years apart. Libras,” the “Gravity” singer, 48, started from a makeshift stage in entrance 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 linked with Weir during a performance they shared on “The Late Late Show” in Feb. 2015.
Mayer giving a eulogy for Bob Weir at the Civic Center Plaza on Jan. 17, 2026. Getty Images
Mayer remembered his late buddy and mentor as a “countercultural icon” and “maestro.” Getty Images
Later that 12 months, the pair fashioned Dead & Company — a contemporary 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.”
Mayer and Weir during a Dead & Company live performance in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2025. AFP through Getty Images
The seven-time Grammy winner went on to recollect 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 famous.
“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.”
Mayer and Weir jamming out together during a Dead & Company live performance in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 31, 2025. Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The “Waiting on the World to Change” hitmaker performed alongside Weir from the inception of Dead & Company in Aug. 2015 until the legendary rocker’s passing last weekend.
Meyer and Weir last performed together during a three-night run celebrating the Grateful Dead’s sixtieth anniversary at Golden Gate Park last August.
Weir was preceded in loss of life 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.
Grateful Dead members Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh circa 1968. Michael Ochs Archives
The Grateful Dead performing in May 1992. Getty Images
“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.”
Mayer and Weir during the thirty sixth annual Pollstar Awards at the Beverly Hilton on April 16, 2025. Getty Images for Pollstar
Mayer delivered his eulogy for Weir from a makeshift stage in entrance of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. REUTERS
“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 traditional “Ripple” with the huge crowd.
Mayer led a touching rendition of the Grateful Dead traditional “Ripple” following his eulogy for Weir on Jan. 17, 2026. AP
Mayer was joined by the huge crowd and the event’s other company during his performance of “Ripple.” REUTERS
The public memorial for the late “Sugar Magnolia” and “Sunshine Daydream” guitarist in San Francisco this weekend got here one week after Weir’s family members announced his sudden loss of life through a submit to the beloved musician’s Instagram.
Weir’s loss of life got here 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 assertion read alongside a candy picture 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 prolonged assertion remembered Weir as a “guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead” and added that he’ll “forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”
“His work did more than fill rooms with music,” Weir’s family members 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.”
Mayer embraced Weir’s spouse of 26 years, Natascha Münter, and one in all the late musician’s daughters during the public memorial. AP
Saturday’s public memorial was attended by 1000’s of Grateful Dead followers who gathered to pay tribute to the late “Playing in the Band” guitarist.
After 4 Buddhist monks opened the event with a prayer in Tibetan, Joan Baez and Mayer spoke.
Weir’s spouse of 26 years, Natascha Münter, and the couple’s two daughters, Monet and Chloe, also shared some candy phrases about the late musician.
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