John Mayer delivered an emotional tribute to the late Bob Weir at a public memorial for the Grateful Dead legend over the weekend.
Mayer, who also performed with Weir in Dead & Company, also performed a stirring rendition of “Ripple” and shared heartfelt reflections about his relationship with the Grateful Dead legend before thousands of devoted Dead Heads, held on Saturday at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza.
“In the 30 years that preceded me, Bob had become a countercultural icon,” Mayer said, per Rolling Stone.
“I was a child of the 1980s. I come from a world of structural thinking, the concept, the theorising, the reassessing, the perfecting.
“Bob learned early on that spirit, heart, soul, curiosity, and fearlessness was the path to glory. We both found success with each of our templates, and then we found each other.”
Mayer’s emotional speech detailed how joining Dead & Company evolved beyond a professional arrangement into a profound friendship with the entire Weir family. The partnership, which began as a musical collaboration, grew into something much more meaningful.
“Over the course of a decade, we came to trust each other,” Mayer reflected. “He taught me, among many other things, to trust in the moment, and I’d like to think I taught him a little bit to rely on a plan, not as a substitute for the divine moments, but as a way to lure them in a little closer. I guess maybe what I was really doing was showing him he could rely on me.”
The guitarist acknowledged the significant risk Weir took in bringing him into the Dead & Company fold, noting how Weir “staked his entire reputation” on the collaboration.
“He lent me his songbook, invited me into the worlds he’d constructed, and taught me what the songs meant and what it meant to perform them,” Mayer continued, his voice breaking as the crowd responded with appreciation. “In return, I gave him everything I had night after night, year after year.”
Following his speech, Mayer joined an ensemble including Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead, along with Dead & Company’s Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge, plus other friends and family members for a memorial-closing performance of “Ripple” from the American Beauty album – a rarely performed live track that provided a fitting farewell to the celebration.
