Surviving Grateful Dead Members Say a 60th Anniversary Reunion Was Being Planned Before Phil Lesh Died

November 29, 2024, 4:05pm

The three surviving core members of the Grateful Dead revealed in a new interview that plans were in the works for some reunion performances before the band’s founding bassist, Phil Lesh, died in October at age 84.

In a recent segment that aired on CBS Mornings, singer/guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart told CBS correspondent Anthony Mason that the proposed reunion would have celebrated the band’s 60th anniversary in 2025.

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The interview took place on October 30, just five days after Lesh’s passing.

“I was hoping that we could play with [Phil] again one more time,” Kreutzmann told Mason. “So that was my sadness on that one, ’cause I know he wanted to play with us again, too.”

Kreutzmann and Weir then both acknowledged that a reunion was being planned. Bob added, “We were kicking it around. In fact, we were gonna get together and kick some songs around tomorrow [October 31].”

Weir went on to suggest that any further plans with the band’s remaining members are up in the air.

“We just don’t have enough to put a band together right now,” Bob lamented.

Kreutzmann, though, seemed to hint that performances featuring the group’s other members could still happen.

“We’d have to have other musicians join us,” he noted. “And we have some favorite musicians, you know?”

Kreutzmann reiterated that he was looking forward to teaming up with his old bandmates to commemorate the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary. “[I thought that] would be fun,” he said.

Added Weir, “We were gonna see where it goes, but we were just gonna play the four of us. And now there’s only three of us … and that’s different.”

The Grateful Dead’s Upcoming Honors

The Grateful Dead will be receiving some prestigious honors in the coming months.

In December, the band will be among the cultural luminaries saluted at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.

Then, this January, the Grateful Dead will be celebrated at the MusiCares organization’s 2025 Persons of the Year. The event traditionally features various well-known artists performing in tribute to the honorees, who also often take part in the show.

About Previous Grateful Dead Reunions

The Grateful Dead broke up after lead singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia’s death in August 1995 at age 53.

After Garcia’s passing, Weir, Lesh, and Hart toured together in a group christened The Other Ones in 1998. In 2000, Lesh left the band, while Kreutzmann joined the lineup. In 2002, Lesh rejoined The Other Ones. In 2003, The Other Ones changed their name to, simply, The Dead. The group toured in 2003, 2004, and 2009, and also played a few select other shows.

Lesh last played live with Weir, Kreutzmann, and Hart was in 2015, at the series of Fare Thee Well reunion concerts in Santa Clara, California, and Chicago. Those shows celebrated the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary.

After that, Weir, Kreutzmann, and Hart teamed up with John Mayer and other musicians in the Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company. Kreutzmann, who has experienced heart issues in recent years, stopped touring with Dead & Company in 2023.

As for Lesh, his main musical focus in recent years was Phil Lesh & Friends, which featured him playing shows with a rotating cast of other musicians.