On December 8, 2024, The Grateful Dead received one of the highest artistic honors ever, a Kennedy Center Honors. The tribute and celebration show for the band transpired on December 8, however, it was not broadcast to the public until December 22, 2024. And now that everyone has had the chance the watch it, many are raving about the music and the cast of characters in attendance.
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Aside from celebrating one of the most influential bands of all time, the event hosted some of the finest and current musical talents. This was not a night for pop musicians, entertainers, and elaborate sets. Rather, it was a night about the musicians who perfectly performed some of the Grateful Dead’s biggest hits. Here are the top three performances from the show.
Maggie Rogers & Leon Bridges Sing “Friend of The Devil”
Maggie Rogers and Leon Bridges are two of the most talented musicians in contemporary popular culture. And they proved just that with their splendid cover of the Dead’s “Friend of The Devil. The duet between Bridges and Rogers was a musical tennis match that seemingly stunned the audience members in attendance.
Bridges sang a melodic soprano rendition of the song, whereas Rogers sang a sweeping raspy Janis Joplin version of the tune. It was an incredibly original rendition of the song given that it was interpreted as a duet. Frankly, Jerry Garcia would be proud.
Sturgill Simpson’s Cover of “Ripple”
Sturgill Simpson recently opened up about how the Grateful Dead’s music saved his life. Furthermore, the man has noted how much of an inspiration Bob Weir has been regarding his rhythm guitar style. Well, Simpson got to pay back the favor by honoring that band with his rendition of “Ripple.”
In the cover, Simpson scores and utilizes his velvety, bellowing, deep voice to articulate the song’s beautiful lyrics exceptionally well. Simpson’s rendition makes people hope that he covers more Dead songs in the future, as it was a spellbinding surprise.
Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, & More Perform “Not Fade Away”
Imagine some of the best musicians of the 21st century sharing the same stage to perform some of the best music of all time. Well, that is exactly what happened, as Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Sturgill Simpson, Maggie Rogers, and Leon Bridges all shared the stage and sang this Grateful Dead classic.
The particular highlight of the performance is when Trucks broke out into a sprawling slide solo and nearly burned a hole through his guitar. Also, hilariously, Miles Teller was in the background dancing like a full-on Dead Head.
Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP
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