Long, strange trip: The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir turns 75 Sunday

Co-founding The Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Bob Weir celebrates his 75th birthday on Sunday, October 16.

While the late Jerry Garcia was The Grateful Dead’s main lead singer and lead guitarist, as well as the group’s predominant songwriter, Weir also sang and co-wrote many of the band’s tunes, while contributing his inventive rhythm playing.

Among the songs Bob had a hand in writing are “Truckin’,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Playing in the Band” and “Estimated Prophet.” Weir frequently collaborated with lyricist John Perry Barlow.

While in the Dead, Weir also recorded and performed as a solo artist and with several side projects, including the bands Kingfish and Bobby and the Midnites.

Weir was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Grateful Dead in 1994.

After the group broke up following Garcia’s death in 1995, Weir launched the band RatDog and took part in a number of projects with other Grateful Dead alums.

In 2015, Weir co-founded the successful spinoff group Dead & Company, which also features longtime Grateful Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, popular singer/guitarist John Mayer, ex-Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. The band recently announced they will launch a farewell tour next year.

Since 2018, Bob has also been touring with a project called Wolf Bros, which includes acclaimed bassist and producer Don Was and RatDog drummer Jay Lane. Weir is celebrating his 75th birthday with a trio of shows with Wolf Bros at the San Francisco theater The Warfield on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This January, Weir will release an expanded 50th anniversary reissue of his 1972 debut solo album, Ace.