Bob Weir, co-founder of Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 78.
His death was confirmed on Saturday, January 10, in an official statement on his official Instagram page.
Weir was diagnosed with cancer last year, and the treatment was successful. Sadly, he later succumbed to complications with his lungs.
The statement (you can find the full original below) reads, among other things:
“It is with deep sadness that we announce Bobby Weir has left us. He passed peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones, after bravely beating cancer the way only Bobby could. Sadly, he succumbed to lung problems that followed.
Bobby spent more than 60 years on the road. He was a guitarist, singer, storyteller and founding member of Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever remain a driving force whose artistic contributions reshaped American music.”
Weir was born in San Francisco, California, in 1947, and at 16 he met Jerry Garcia in a music shop in Palo Alto. After a night spent playing music together, the two formed the band that would become Grateful Dead, with Weir’s guitar and vocals becoming a central part of their sound.
