Mickey Hart, one of the last two surviving members of the Grateful Dead, has paid tribute to his bandmate Bob Weir, who passed away at the age of 78.
“Bob Weir was a little brother to me for almost sixty years. He was my first friend in the Grateful Dead,” Mickey wrote on Instagram. “We lived together, played together, and made music together that ended up changing the world.”
“Bob had the ability to play unique chords that few others could. Long fingers, that’s the difference,” he continued, noting their late bandmate Jerry Garcia “once told me that the harmonics Bob created became an inspiration for his own solos. When all of us were entrained, rhythm section, guitars, and voices… it was transcendent.”
“What was a lifetime of adventure boils down to something simple – we were family and true to the music through it all,” he added.
Hart also shared a carousel of photos, noting the shots “show the bookends of our lives together.” He ended the tribute saying, “Still cannot believe he’s gone. I miss you so much already, dear friend.”
Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967, two years after it was formed by Weir, Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann, the only other surviving member of the band.
John Mayer, Weir’s bandmate in the Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, which was formed in 2015, also paid tribute to Weir.
He posted a black-and-white photo of Weir on Instagram, writing, “Thanks for letting me ride alongside you. It sure was a pleasure. If you say it’s not the end, then I’ll believe you. I’ll meet you in the music. Come find me anytime.”
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