30 Years Later: Revisiting TV Reports Of Grateful Dead Guitarist Jerry Garcia’s Death In 1995
Look back at the world’s immediate reaction to the beloved musician’s untimely death three decades ago today.
By Andy Kahn Aug 9, 2025 • 4:20 am PDT
Photo by Bob Minkin
Many significant historical events inspire generations of people to remember where they were when they learned of these profound moments in time. For Deadheads, where they were on August 9, 1995 when they heard the news of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia’s death, is an unfortunate memory many will never forget.
Those memories are 30 years old as of today, three decades after the beloved guitarist died of a heart attack at Serenity Knolls rehabilitation clinic in Forest Knolls, California, eight days after his 53rd birthday.
My “where were you” memory is of returning home from my freshman year high school football practice, where my younger brother met me in our family home’s garage to alert me of the awful news.
I reacted with disbelief, hoping that what he told me was somehow incorrect, either a misinterpretation on his part or some cruel practical joke. He assured me that it was indeed real, guiding me inside our living room to see on television the face of the person I’d seen only one month before at Soldier Field in Chicago, now the source of breaking news from one channel to the next.
This was in the early years of the internet, when television news was still the primary source for unfolding information, and seeing Jerry on my TV solidified a moment I will always sadly remember.
Tributes to Garcia were instant in response to his death at age 53. He appeared on the cover of numerous print magazines, with Rolling Stone and others devoting entire special issues to the 1960s counter-culture icon. Days later, thousands of people came together in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for a celebration of Garcia’s life led by his former bandmates.
More immediately, television news was also a conduit for sharing responses to Garcia’s death. In the aftermath of Garcia’s passing, around the globe newsrooms shared word of Garcia’s demise with their viewers. Televised memorial segments continued over the subsequent days, as many of his peers and admirers shared their reactions to the unfortunate news.
On NBC, former news anchor Tom Brokaw read a statement from Garcia’s cohort, renowned singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
“To me, he wasn’t only a musician and a friend,” Dylan said, as reported by NBC. “He was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know.”
Following the initial break of Garcia’s passing, news reports shifted to capturing the impromptu memorial vigils that occurred among Deadheads all over the country.
Those who remember that fateful August day 30 years ago, and those without that “where were you” memory, can experience the way the world learned about and began to remember Jerry Garcia through archival news segments reporting on his passing.
YouTuber Don Flatt compiled many televised reports from August 9, 1995 and the days that followed. The series of new clips captured reports by NBC, CNN, BBC, CBS, CBC, and other media outlets.
Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir’s press conference addressing Garcia’s death appeared in multiple segments. Warren Zevon, David Crosby and Country Joe McDonald were among the musicians interviewed about Garcia’s death.
Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally, legendary record executive Clive Davis and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy can also be seen among those speaking about the unexpected loss of Garcia. Deadheads from around the country share their reactions to Jerry’s death with reporters at vigils in various cities.
Watch the news reports compilations below:
Scroll on to watch additional archival news reports about Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia posted by other YouTube accounts:
