The surviving original members of the Grateful Dead just revealed that a 60th anniversary reunion was in the works prior to the October death of band member Phil Lesh at the age of 84.
Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart shared the news in an interview with CBS Mornings, taped just five days after Lesh’s death, with the trio noting that Lesh was supposed to take part in the interview as well.
“I was hoping that we could play with him again one more time,” Kreutzmann shared of their bandmate, “so that was my sadness on that one. Because I know he wanted to play with us again, too.”
“We were kicking it around,” Weir said of the idea of playing together again. “We were gonna get together and, and kick some songs around tomorrow.”
All three musicians confirmed there was some discussion about the four of them coming together to celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary in 2025, but it likely won’t happen now because of Lesh’s death.
“We just don’t have enough to put a band together right now,” Weir said, with Kreutzmann adding, “Well not the three of us,” although he suggested if they did it would have to be with guest musicians.
“I was hopin’ that we could do it for the 60th. Would be fun,” Kreutzmann said.
“We were gonna see where it goes. But we were just gonna play the four of us. And now there’s only three of us … that’s different,” Weir said.
The interview comes ahead of the Grateful Dead’s latest honor: they are set to receive the Kennedy Center Honors in December. They will also be celebrated as the 2025 MusiCares Person of the Year in February.
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