Who’s Still Alive From the Grateful Dead?

Festival Express The Grateful Dead, 2003
ThinkFilm/Everett Collection

Founding Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh died today at age 84, following singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia, who passed in 1995, and keyboardist, singer and instrumentalist Ronald “Pigpen” McKernan, who died in 1973. Though the band has had many additional members and split off into many side groups through the years, which members of the classic lineup of the Grateful Dead are still alive today?

Bob Weir

CLIVE DAVIS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES, Bob Weir, 2017.

© Apple Music /Courtesy Everett Collection

Guitarist Weir, 77, cofounded the Grateful Dead alongside Garcia, Lesh and Pigpen. In 1995, he formed the band RatDog, a side project that feature Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane.

After Garcia’s death in 1995, he formed the Other Ones with Lesh and Hart, as well as sometimes Grateful Dead member Bruce Hornsby. The band later changed their name to the Dead.

In 2009, Lesh and Weir formed the band Furthur.

RatDog has been on hiatus since 2014, though they did reunite in 2016 to honor bassist Rob Wasserman.

In 2015, a meeting with Grateful Dead fan John Mayer led Weir to some musical collaboration with the younger guitarist. In the summer of 2015, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzman and Hart played some shows celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, supported by musicians like Trey Anastasio from Phish and Dead members Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti.

Later that year, Mayer and Weir, alongside Hart and Kreutzman, formed Dead & Company, which helped spread the Grateful Dead’s music to a younger generation. Dead & Company most recently played a run of 30 shows at Las Vegas’ Sphere venue in 2024.

 

Bill Kreutzman

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - APRIL 27: Bill Kreutzmann performs during Billy & The Kids Fleur de Dead at Saenger Theatre on April 27, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images

Kreutzman, 78, stayed with the Dead throughout their entire run and performed in several spinoff and related bands, including the Other Ones and the Dead. In 2015, he cofounded Dead & Company with Weir and Hart. He was not included in the band’s 2023 Final Tour; according to a band statement, this was due to a “shift in creative direction.”

Mickey Hart

LET THERE BE DRUMS!, Mickey Hart, Grateful Dead, 2022.

© Greenwich Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection

Hart, 81, was not a founding member but joined the band in 1967. After the death of Garcia, he participated in the Other Ones and the Dead, as well as the Mickey Hart Band. He is a member of Dead & Company.

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