John Mayer shared a short but poignant tribute to his late bandmate Bob Weir on Sunday. The musician, who performed with Weir in Dead & Company for several years, honoured their collaboration.
“Okay Bob. I’ll do it your way,” Mayer wrote on Instagram. “Fkn’ A… Thanks for letting me ride alongside you. It sure was a pleasure. If you say it’s not the end, then I’ll believe you. I’ll meet you in the music. Come find me anytime.”
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Mayer joined forces with Weir in 2015. While guest hosting The Late Late Show that February, Mayer invited Weir to join him for a studio performance. A collaboration evolved from there. Dead & Company embarked on numerous tours in the years that followed.
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The group wrapped up a farewell tour in July 2023, but they continued to play residencies at Sphere in Las Vegas throughout 2024 and 2025. They came together one last time in August 2025 for three shows in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary. Throughout the three evenings, they were joined by Billy Strings, Trey Anastasio, Grahame Lesh, and Sturgill Simpson.
Weir once said he hoped to see the band outlive him. “I had a little flash while we were playing one night,” Weir told Rolling Stone‘s David Fricke in 2016. “It was toward the end of the tour. I don’t remember what city it was in. We were getting into the second set, setting up a tune. We were all playing, but the tune hadn’t begun yet. We were all feeling out the groove, just playing with it. Suddenly I was 20 feet behind my own head, looking at this and kind of happy with the way the song was shaping up. I started looking around, and it was 20 years later. John’s hair had turned gray. Oteil’s had turned white. I looked back at the drummers, and it was a couple of new guys. I looked back at myself, the back of my head, and it was a new guy. It changed my entire perception of what it is we’re up to.”
Weir’s family announced his death at 78 on Jan. 10 in a statement. A date of death was not immediately available. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” his family wrote. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”
From Rolling Stone US
