54-Year-Old Grateful Dead Fan Dies While Dancing at Anniversary Concert

Few groups of fans are more dedicated than Deadheads. These fiercely dedicated fans of the jam band Grateful Dead have been around since the band’s heyday in the 1970s. They were known for following the band around to concerts and festivals around the United States. The fanbase became its own subculture of sorts. 

Videos by American Songwriter

Plenty of Deadheads are still rockin’ today, years after the band came to an end in 1995. And it appears as though one Deadhead has recently passed away doing what they love: Dancing to The Grateful Dead. 

According to reports, one Fred Cothard had attended a Dead & Company homecoming show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco over the weekend. (For reference, Dead & Company is an offshoot of Grateful Dead, made up of former members of the original band.)

Cothard suddenly “collapsed,” per his children, at the concert. According to an attendee of the concert, Cothard collapsed while dancing to the song “They Love Each Other”. Cothard was soon pronounced dead at the age of 54 after he collapsed. The precise cause of his death has not been released to the public.

Fred Cothard Passed Away Doing What He Loved and Will Be Remembered as a Dedicated Fan of The Grateful Dead

While Fred Cothard’s sudden passing is a complete tragedy, one can’t help but imagine he died doing what he loved, surrounded by The Grateful Dead’s music and community. Cothard ran his own construction company and, according to his obituary, was an enormous fan of the Grateful Dead and a long-standing Deadhead.

“Most of Fred’s personal life revolved around music and his deep love and passion for the Grateful Dead,” his obituary reads. “There was almost nothing else he enjoyed more than traveling the country with family and friends from all over the world, to see the next show.”

Cothard’s children, Sadie and Sawyer, have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral costs and immediate needs for the bereaved. So far, Deadheads have proved that they’re one of the best fan groups out there. The $25,000 goal for the fundraiser was quickly surpassed and is currently, as of this writing, sitting at about $41,000.

We wish Fred Cothard’s children, family, and loved ones the best during this difficult time. You can donate to the Cothard family’s GoFundMe to help with funeral costs and provide household needs for Cothard’s children here.

Photo by Kirk West/Getty Images