LOS ANGELES — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78. Weir’s death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peac efully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.” This undated file photo of the Grateful Dead includes members, from left, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzman and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File) Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He’d spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995. Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.” In the decades since, he kept playing with other projects, including Dead Company. “For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.” Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024. Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the country singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP, File) Dead Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Guitarist John Mayer joined Weir as a member of Dead Company, helping bring the Dead’s iconic music to a new generation of fans. In an Instagram post with a photo of the two of them together on tour, Mayer said, “Rest in Peace Bob! We love you (heart emoji) This one is hard. I’m not gonna say a lot, just “Thank You for everything”. You will always stand as a legend in music history. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.” Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead’s youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years. The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually nonstop tour. Weir said he personally wanted to keep playing music as long as he was physically capable, famously declaring, “Retirement is not an option.” “Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys’ Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.” ...read more read less