In March, hell return to Las Vegas for anotherDead & Company residency18 more showsat the Sphere.
His solo project Wolf Bros. also plans to continue performing with symphony orchestras around the country.
Thats what I do, he says.
The Grateful Dead in 1968 (from left): Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh,Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart.Malcolm Lubliner/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Thats what Im here for.
Weir, 77, isnt the least bit overwhelmed by any of these accolades.
I guess if I ever have grandkids, theyll probably take me a bit more seriously.
But really, Im the same guy.
I still have to get out of bed in the morning, and my backs cranky.
Nothing much has changed.
But hes now one of the bands few remaining members, alongside drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.
Now that Lesh is gone, Weir isnt so sure.
We speak a language that nobody else speaks, Weir says.
And then they work on being where youre headed, getting there with a little surprise for you.
Weir is transfixed by a massive mixing board in the room.
Thats a big one, he says.
Christ, its got to be a 48-inch.
We sit on a couch, our Birkenstocks parked next to each other.
Well, Weir says.
Nothing ever works out like you expected it to.
With the state of our country right now, its good that these Sphere shows are happening.
People will really need the music.I have a feeling that its music thats going to bring this country together.
Nothing else is going to work.
In the case of the right-wing stuff, they keep their demographic pissed off at the lefties.
And then the lefty news outfits keep their demographics pissed off at the right-wingers.
I loved that you endorsed Kamala Harris on social media.
Im sure the outcome of the election was disappointing.Yeah.
Youve seen a lot of administrations over the years.
What advice would you give to younger people at the moment?Hang in there.
Thats the best it’s possible for you to do.
If the Trump administration comes after California, like they might, its not like we have no options.
The opportunities for storytelling from onstage are at some point going to surpass opera in that environment.
I cant think of anything you cant do.
That said, theres still some technological development that needs to be done.
And then, practice makes perfect with regard to how all that stuff is going to be used.
Im not sure that you’re free to get a better sound system anywhere.
Its a little difficult.
We had to go into in-ears, and I had to make peace with them in-ear monitors.
With the slapback echo that happens, you really cant… You have to.
Youre stuck with a report back from the back wall thats almost as loud as whats happening onstage.
And its almost always out of time.
So you go into in-ears, and youve dealt with that pretty much.
You cant overlook an opportunity like that.
I started looking around, and it was 20 years later.
Right now its 2025, so youre halfway there.Right.
Did you imagine that it would last this long?The interesting thing is, Ive never made plans.
And really, making plans seems like a waste of time.
Because nothing ever works out like you expected it to, no matter who you are.
So you and John [Mayer] havent discussed the future of Dead & Company?No.
We go where it takes us.
Do you ever see Bill Kreutzmann coming back into the fold?
Heleft Dead & Companyin 2023, but hes since played his own shows.Were just going to see.
Were not spring chickens anymore.
Bill, I guess, hes making it by.
The 60th anniversary of the Dead is this year.
And that was the intriguing prospect….
I think you need somebody holding down the bottom.
Phil had all kinds of ideas that were pretty much unique to him.
I grew up with Phil holding down the bottom in his unique way.
I suppose I could go back out.
I wouldnt put anybody in his place, so it would be a trio at this point.
Itd be me and two drummers.
Id have to think about that.
I guess well just see what the three of us can pull together.
There just arent enough of us left now.
I suppose i could go back out.
Its no secret that you and Phil had your differences at times.
What was your relationship like in the past few years?We did have our differences.
He called me just simply to congratulate me and us, and that was his entire reason for calling.
And when we were done talking about that, I was spun out, he was spun out.
We tried to make sense of it for a little bit.
And then said, Well, OK, see you there, basically.
I guess that wasnt to be.
Youve been talking about writing a book for years.
Is that something youre still interested in doing?Yeah, Im working on that.
Ive got to get back to it, and Ive got to get collected.
And I got a fair bit done.
Ive just got to get back to that.
Thats going to be excellent news for my publisher.
Is there a title yet?The working title isIts Always July Under the Lights.Except thats not true anymore.
The new lights that they have, its not always July under the lights.
Did you happen to see that Bob Dylan movie?Not yet.
Theres just so many rock biopics.
Do you guys ever think about a Grateful Dead movie, one day?Itd be interesting.
Theres a story there.
Im not sure how easy its going to be to settle on.
Jerry was a great place to start, but a lots happened since Jerry checked out.
Of course, he had a lot to do with that.
Past attempts to do documentaries on the Grateful Dead, Jerrys been the focus of that.
But Im not sure thats the whole story anymore.
There was going to be a Jerry biopic withJonah Hilla few years back.
Jerry and I were sidemen.
Yeah, theres a story there.
Theres a lot to be told.
I dont know how youd pare that story down.
He died in 1973, so he didnt get to see the full impact that the band would have.
How do you think he would have felt about it?The answer is, I dont know.
I lived with the guy, and I really couldnt tell you.
The Sixties have been described by some people as an American renaissance, a uniquely special time.
Do you think thats just nostalgia?
Was it truly special?I think it was truly a special time.
There was a preponderance of youth in our culture at that point.
So much so that youthful considerations were at the forefront.
But back in the Sixties, there was a convergence of new factors in our cultural makeup.
Rock & roll had emerged.
Music was the code by which we communicated.
David Crosby used to say that the hippies were right about everything except for the drugs.
Do you agree with that?Probably, yeah.
At least 80, 90 percent.
I try not to allow myself to go there.
Being prideful is not going to get you much of anywhere, as far as I can see.
Is it strange for you to be regarded as a legend while youre still alive?Yeah.
Im getting used to it, I guess.
But that doesnt mean it feels any less strange, or stilted.
Its been a while since Ive seen the awesome fitness videos you used to post online.
Are you still doing that stuff?Im about to get back into it because I miss it.
I had to take a little break.
I got swamped with other stuff.
Ive gotten awfully busy in the last little while.
Ive taken up running barefoot in the morning on rocky roads.
Because I think thats a great way to get grounded.
I dont run very fast, because I want to breathe through my nose.
And I take a stab at incorporate meditation into that.
And sometimes I meditate with a mantra and sometimes I just straight-up meditate while Im running.
Or trotting, I guess, really.
Its a practice thats amounting to something for me.
Youre the first person Ive talked to about it.
Ive been doing it about a year, a year and a half.
Im finally ready to start evangelizing about it.
Why do you run barefoot?I just followed my footsteps, really.
Well see where it leads to.
Maybe Ill live longer, or at least happier.
Being prideful is not going to get you anywhere.
I have no doubt about that.
That whole thing is constructed so that anyone can step in and do it.
How do you want to be remembered when youre gone?Body of work.
And Im still working on that.
Its still very much a work in progress, so I wont bother to go into much detail.
You joined the band in your teens.
At this point youve seen so many of your brothers go.
What has that been like for you?Every day, things change.
Ill say this: I look forward to dying.
I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived.
Ive still got a lot on my plate, and I wont be ready to go for a while.
I wish … well, Phil made it to his eighties.
Jerry didnt, and there was a lot that Jerry had to offer that he didnt get to offer.
Fifty-three is very young.Yeah.
Theres a cautionary tale in that.
He burned brightly while he was alive.
He went vegetarian for a while, or he made a stab at it.
He was into living healthy.
We used to vacation together, and he got me into scuba diving.
Really, I think it was the fact that he was too goddamn famous.
And too many people had too many notions about who he was.
All erroneous, none of them really hit home.
He had to connect with people.
And that worked for him, pretty much.
What didnt work for him was the diet.
He couldnt go out, and it wasnt easy to eat healthy in hotels back then.
It was the diet and lack of exercise, really.
And that kept him alive for 53 years, in spite of a horrendous diet.
You cant eat like he ate and live for all that long.
Its not going to happen for you.
I look forward to dying.
I think of death as the last and best reward for a lifewell-lived.
You yourself had a scare, a little more than a decade ago.
What do you think you learned from that experience?Which scare was that?
When youcollapsed onstagein 2013.Oh, right.
Take it easier on myself a little bit, and stuff like that.
I build my life around challenges and that kind of thing.
If somebody tells me I cant do something, watch my dust.
One day, Jerry was hammering me about how I was lazy.
I dont know exactly what caused him to think of that.
I think it was the Eighties some time, in a private moment.
He practiced more than I used to.
I now have taken to practicing a lot myself.
But Ive probably been going a little too far in the other direction.
Every two or three years it snows overnight up there.
Theres a decent accumulation.
Its a matter of overcompensating.
The point hes making is pretty obvious: Dont overcompensate.
And its hard not to do.
It was maybe ill-considered, because I got myself into trouble overcompensating.
Are there any songs when you play live that youre tired of playing?Yeah, I drop them.
Beat It on Down the Line, Im not sure I can sing that anymore.
Monkey and the Engineer is another one that Im not sure I can sing anymore.
Im just beginning to work on those songs.
And then do it or not do it.
But I need to be able to quote him before I can move on.
There was a brief period in 1968 when you were kicked out of the Dead.
I was raised by great folks, but I was dyslexic.
I was born dyslexic in the extreme.
It was a word that didnt exist back then, I dont think.
And they didnt really know that.
I still wouldve had no choice [but to make music].
Its a compulsion for me.
I have to write music.
I have to create.
