Grateful Dead, 2024 Kennedy Center honorees, reflect on the band’s legacy and support from fans
Iconic rock band ‘Grateful Dead’ named kennedy center honorees earlier this year to celebrate their decades of innovation and success.
“I think it’s a legacy for me and for us,” drummer Mickey Hart said honor.
The surviving members – Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzman and Hart – told “CBS Morning News” that the honor belongs not only to the band members but also to their fans.
“They kept us going,” Will said.
Grateful Dead Forms
The band formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960s. Will was 16 when he first heard Jerry Garcia playing banjo outside a music store in Palo Alto.
“It was New Year’s Eve and he basically invited us in. We had so much fun that night that we thought it was too much fun to leave,” Will said.
Kreutzmann recalled seeing Garcia and Weir play at the club.
“I was completely blown away by Jerry’s ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand. Jerry brought light to everyone,” he said. “He called me that week and said, ‘Hey, do you want to be in the band?’ I said, ‘Sure.'”
Kreutzmann later brought Hart into the band in 1967.
“Bill invited me to play and sit in it. When I heard the band, I said, ‘Wow.’ We all became interested in the Grateful Dead in different ways, but we definitely became interested in it, ” Hart said. “We were bitten.”
Garcia also recruited Phil Lesha classically trained musician who plays bass. Lesh, one of the band’s original members, died in October at the age of 84.
The legacy of the Grateful Dead
In the band’s 30 years of existence, the Grateful Dead had only one Top 40 hit, “Touch of Grey,” and did not receive a single Grammy nomination.
“Someone came to us and said, ‘You’re never going to make it. You’re playing too long. You’re playing too loud,'” Kreutzman recalled.
But after decades of working together, they built a following known as “Deadheads,” who began recording and sharing their concerts.
“You look up from the stage and it looks like a forest of microphones,” Kreutzmann said of their fans recording their concerts.
Their record label advised against allowing fans to record, but the band refused, saying they were not concerned about piracy.
“It was the smartest thing we ever did,” Kreutzman said.
The Grateful Dead performed more than 2,300 concerts, most of which were recorded by fans.
“These tapes were sold all over the world,” Hart said. “They are also our archivists.”
After Garcia’s death in 1995, the band disbanded after 30 years together. They weren’t sure if they could find a way to move forward without their frontman.
“The Grateful Dead ended when Jerry left. That was it. You can’t replace Jerry Garcia,” Kreutzman said.
The surviving members went on to other projects and bands, but the spirit of the Grateful Dead will always live on. Weir said Garcia would visit him in his dreams from time to time, including recently.
“In the dream, Jerry came to me and he said, ‘Listen, I’m going to invite a song to get to know you. I want you to get to know this song.’ … What that dream did was, it made me It solidified the idea that, yes, when we play these songs, they are alive,” Weir said. “They come into our world and through us.”
