American guitarist Bob Weirone of the founders of the psychedelic rock band Grateful Deaddied at the age of 78, his family announced this Saturday.
Born in the sixties, the Grateful Dead is one of the most emblematic groups of the counterculture that stood out for incorporating elements of blues, country and jazz into their music.
“He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones, after bravely beating cancer as only Bobby could. Sadly, he succumbed to underlying lung problems,” the family said in a statement posted on his personal website and Instagram account.
The place or date of his death was not specified.
His cancer He had been diagnosed last July and despite treatment, Weir celebrated his 60-year career the following month during three consecutive concerts in his hometown of San Francisco, the statement said.
“For more than sixty years, Bobby traveled the roads. Guitarist, singer, storyteller and founding member of the Grateful Dead, Bobby will forever remain an iconic figure whose unique artistic talent revolutionized American music,” his family said.
The band’s historic singer, Jerry Garcia, died after a concert in 1995.
The group’s musicians who are still alive performed a farewell tour in 2015 before announcing, a few weeks later, their return under the name “Dead and Company.”
