John Mayer has hailed playing with Dead and Company the “honour of [his] life”.
The 47-year-old guitarist has been performing with the Greatful Dead’s founding members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann – who retired from touring in 2023 – and Micky Hart since 2015 and in honour of the legendary rock band’s 60th anniversary, he has paid tribute to the group and their spin-off band, which also includes Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane.
From 1-3 August, Dead and Company marked six decades of the Grateful Dead with a series of concerts in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and John will “never forget” the shows.
He wrote on Instagram on Tuesday (05.08.25): “Night 3 in Golden Gate Park celebrating 60 years of @gratefuldead will be a one we’ll never forget.”
Sunday’s (02.08.25) second gig saw Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio take to the stage with Dead and Company for renditions of Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain, while the band were joined for the whole weekend by Graheme Lesh, the son of Grateful Dead’s late bassist Phil Lesh.
John wrote: “I finally had the chance to play with @treyanastasio, and beyond the full-circle moment of it all, the lock we had going was instant. Trey’s ear-to-fretboard data transfer time is unparalleled. I’m still blown away.
“Extra special thanks to @grahamelesh for joining us all three nights.
“No matter how many shows we play as a band, I will always be a guest in this musical world, and I’ll never lose sight of what is the great honor of my life. Happy 60th, Grateful Dead, and long may you run, @bobweir, @mickeyhart, and @billkreutzmann.”
The Gravity hitmaker concluded his message with a tribute to the late Jerry Garcia.
He wrote: “It must be said… I’ll never come close to playing like @jerrygarcia.
“But if I can somehow get you closer to him – and to the spirit he created 60 years ago – then I suppose I’ve done my job.
“Thank you for accepting me. [heart emoji].”
In December 2024, the Grateful Dead were among those chosen by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Kennedy Center honour, being recognised for being a “social and cultural phenomenon since 1965”.
The organisation added: “Grateful Dead’s music has never stopped being a true American original, while inspiring a fan culture like no other.”
And the surviving members of the group admitted the accolade was “beyond humbling”.
They said in a statement when the news was announced in July 2024: “To be recognised alongside the artists who have in the past received this honour is beyond humbling.
“We’ve always felt that the music we make embodies and imparts something beyond the notes and phrases being played — and that is something we are privileged to share with all who are drawn to what we do — so it also must be said that our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us. This honour, then, is as much theirs as ours.”