Bob Weir: Guitarist who made Grateful Dead iconic psychedelic jam band

Veteran rock musician Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead’s rhythm guitarist who helped guide the legendary psychedelic jam band through decades of change and success, has died at age 78, his family said in a statement on Saturday.

 

He was diagnosed with cancer in July and “succumbed to underlying lung issues” surrounded by loved ones, according to the statement, posted on Weir's verified Instagram account. It did not mention when or where he died.

 

Just weeks after starting cancer treatment last summer, Weir had returned to his “hometown stage” at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to play in a three-night celebration of his 60 years in music, his family recalled. Those shows turned out to be his final live public performances, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

 

Along with his late fellow Grateful Dead co-founder and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, who was at the center of the universe for “Deadheads,” as diehard Dead fans are known, Weir was one of the group's two frontmen and main vocalists for most of the band’s history.

 

It was the youthful, ponytailed Wier who sang the verses on the band’s trademark boogie anthem, Truckin’, and who wrote such key songs as Sugar Magnolia, Playing in the Band and Jack Straw.