John Mayer is mourning a major loss. At Bob Weir’s public memorial in San Francisco, the Dead and Company guitarist took the stage for an emotional appearance.
Videos by American Songwriter
Mayer first teamed up with Weir’s Dead & Company in 2015. In the years that followed, Mayer performed alongside the band during tours, at a Las Vegas residency, and for three 2025 shows in San Francisco, which were held in honor of the group’s 60th anniversary.
During his eulogy for Weir, Mayer spoke about he and the late musician—who shared the same birthday, 30 years apart—”found success with each of our templates, and then we found each other.”
“What would follow would become the adventure of a lifetime for me. 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.”
Instead, Mayer said, he and Weir “stood side by side together in the music.”
“That’s where those 30 years would melt away and that Libra balance would kick in,” he said. “We’d become comrades, sometimes brothers, even if only by one shared parent. We were unlikely partners, and that was part of our magic.”
As the men got to know each other, they “came to trust each other,” something Mayer felt great gratitude for.
“Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation on my joining a band with him. He gave me musical community, he gave me this community,” Mayer said. “… He lent me his songbook, invited me into the worlds he’d constructed, and taught me what the songs meant and what it meant to perform them. In return, I gave him everything I had night after night, year after year.”
John Mayer Speaks About Bob Weir’s Legacy
Mayer, who also performed Grateful Dead’s 1970 song “Ripple” at the memorial, then addressed Dead Heads directly, putting himself squarely in the fan group.
“The excitement you felt when you were boarding a plane or packing up the car to travel miles to see the shows was the same excitement I felt about flying to the next city, working out the setlist in a group chat, meeting up with the band on stage for sound check, and getting ready for that magical moment when we take the stage and discover whatever was in store for us that night,” he said.
In the wake of Weir’s death, Mayer said he feels “a sadness so hard to put into words and nowhere near being fully realized.” As he navigates his grief, Mayer noted, “Bobby was right again. Because all we can do is hold on to this moment, and I don’t have the faintest idea of a plan.”
“Bob will be forever perched over my shoulder,” he said. “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.”
Mayer concluded, “You changed my life. I will love you forever.”
Photo by Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.