Surviving Grateful Dead Members Were Planning To Reunite With Phil Lesh For 60th Anniversary
Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann discussed Lesh and the potential Grateful Dead 60th anniversary reunion in their first joint interview since Phil’s death.
By Scott Bernstein Nov 27, 2024 • 6:33 am PST
Photo by Jay Blakesberg
Grateful Dead members Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart sat down for an interview with CBS News’ Anthony Mason at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall five days after Phil Lesh's sudden death. The surviving members of the Grateful Dead told Mason they had aimed to perform with Phil Lesh in 2025 to commemorate the band’s 60th anniversary.
CBS Mornings aired highlights of Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart’s first interview together since Lesh’s passing. The full interview will be broadcast on CBS Mornings on Wednesday, December 18.
Advertisement
Phil Lesh was supposed to have taken part in the joint interview in which the musicians were going to discuss becoming Kennedy Center honorees next month. “I was hoping that we could play with him again one more time. So that, that was my sadness…’Cause I know he wanted to play with us again too,” Kreutzmann said.
“Was that in the plans?” responded Mason. “Yeah, definitely,” noted Kreutzmann. “We were kickin’ it around. In fact, we were gonna, we were gonna get together and, and kick some songs around tomorrow,” added Bobby Weir.
Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart last performed with Phil Lesh at the Fare Thee Well concerts in 2015 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart went on to form Dead & Company with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. Bill Kreutzmann parted ways with Dead & Company before their “final tour” in 2023.
The surviving members of the Grateful Dead acknowledged the loss of Lesh changes the equation for GD60. “We just don’t have enough to put a band together right now,” Weir explained. “Well, not the three of us. I mean, we’d have to have other musicians join us,” stated Kreutzmann. “We were gonna see where it goes. But we were just gonna play the four of us. And, and now there’s only three of us…,” Bobby continued.
Phil Lesh died on Friday, October 25 at age 84. Watch his bandmates discuss his legacy on CBS Mornings below:
