On This Day in 1995, Jerry Garcia Performed With The Grateful Dead for The Last Time

Stories about drug use, health complications, and turbulent relationships litter the history of music. Frankly, it seems that a tragedy of some kind outlines every other musician’s earthly demise or career downfall. It is a tale older than the music industry, but that doesn’t make these types of stories any less heartbreaking and impactful, and one musician whose career and life were met with a tragic ending was The Grateful Dead‘s frontman, Jerry Garcia.

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Jerry Garcia has gone down in the history books as one of the most influential artists of all time for a multitude of reasons. Not only did he propel jam-band music to the mainstream, but he also helped create arguably the most staunch and steadfast fan base of all time. Between his focus on live recordings and playful style, he acquired success in a very unique and personalized way. However, on this day, July 9, 1995, Garcia’s career came to an end, as he performed his last ever show alongside his friends, better known as The Grateful Dead.

Jerry Garcia Concluded His Career at Chicago’s Soldier Field

On this day in 1995, Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead concluded their 1995 summer tour with a performance at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. During the performance, the Dead played “Touch of Grey”, “Lazy River Road”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, and several other of their live and studio recorded staples. Even though the setlist was tailor-made for the fans’ enjoyment, Jerry Garcia’s visible health complications seemingly cast a gray cloud over the audience.

During his final show, Jerry Garcia’s poor health was quite apparent. He was reportedly hoarse, tired, and visibly shaken. The show was not a grand goodbye, as Garcia’s health problems allegedly hindered him from giving the best possible performance he was capable of giving. Regardless, this did not affect his legacy one bit, as one poor performance certainly does not overshadow the thousand other exceptional ones.

For the majority of his career, Garcia struggled with drug addiction, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea. So, at the age of 53, all of these health issues caught up with him. Specifically, following this performance, Jerry Garcia checked himself into a drug rehabilitation center. His stay at the center only lasted for roughly two weeks. At the end of those two weeks, Jerry Garcia passed away from a heart attack exactly a month after his final performance with The Grateful Dead on August 9, 1995.

Photo by Clayton Call/Redferns