The Dead was an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

. After the death of

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

in 1995,

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

, and Bill Kreutzmann formed the band The Other Ones, performing concert tours in 1998 (without Kreutzmann), 2000 (without Lesh), and 2002, and released one album, '' The Strange Remain''. In 2003, they changed their name to The Dead.

Tours

In addition to Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann, the 2003 lineup of the band included

Jimmy Herring Jimmy Herring (born January 22, 1962) is the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh a ...

, Jeff Chimenti, Rob Barraco, and Joan Osborne. The band was first officially billed as The Dead on February 14, 2003 at the Warfield in San Francisco. Later that year, the band opened up their summer tour (titled as "Summer Getaway") on June 15 at the

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

. They ended 2003 with two New Year's dates at the Oakland Arena on December 30 and 31. In 2004, Herring and Chimenti remained in the lineup, and were joined by Warren Haynes. The band played a brief winter jam and a three-month summer tour called the Wave That Flag Tour. In 2006, guitarist

joined the group Widespread Panic after George McConnell's departure from the group. On February 4, 2008, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with several other musicians, performed a concert called "

Deadheads for Obama Deadheads for Obama is the name given to the February 4, 2008 reunion concert of three former members of the Grateful Dead at The Warfield in San Francisco. The show, performed one day before the Super Tuesday primary elections, was an act of su ...

", at the Warfield in San Francisco. On October 13, 2008, Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann, joined by Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti, played a second show for the Obama campaign, called " Change Rocks", at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. On January 20, 2009, the same lineup played at one of the ten official balls for the inauguration of President Obama. The band toured the United States in the spring of 2009, playing 23 concerts in April and May, with a lineup of Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Warren Haynes, and Jeff Chimenti. During the second night of the Spring 2009 tour, they were joined on stage by Tipper Gore who sat in on drums during the closing song, "

Sugar Magnolia "Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the Grateful Dead. Written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "Truckin'", "Casey Jones", "Uncle John's Band", "Touch of Grey", and fellow sugar-a ...

". Over a two night run in New Jersey in April 2009 they reunited with former

collaborator

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

on saxophone. They also headlined the second annual Rothbury Music Festival in Rothbury, Michigan on July 4, 2009. After the 2009 Dead tour, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh performed together for the next five years with their new band Furthur.

Personnel

References

External links

Official website of The Dead
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dead, The 2003 establishments in California 2009 disestablishments in California Rock music groups from California Grateful Dead Jam bands Bob Weir Mickey Hart Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2009