John Mayer expressed his gratitude for his role in the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary celebration during a three-night event in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, as documented in a detailed Instagram post. The celebration was led by Dead & Company, the successor to the Grateful Dead.
On Tuesday night, Mayer reflected on the final night of the celebration, writing, “Night 3 in Golden Gate Park celebrating 60 years of @gratefuldead will be one we’ll never forget. I finally had the chance to play with @treyanastasio, and beyond the full-circle moment of it all, the lock we had going was instant. Trey’s ear-to-fretboard data transfer time is unparalleled. I’m still blown away.” Mayer performed alongside Phish’s Trey Anastasio on “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain.”
Mayer also extended his gratitude to Graham Lesh, son of the late Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, who joined Dead & Company for all three nights, performing his father’s classic, “Box of Rain,” on the opening night. Phil Lesh passed away in October 2024 at the age of 84. “Extra special thanks to @grahamelesh for joining us all three nights. No matter how many shows we play as a band, I will always be a guest in this musical world, and I’ll never lose sight of what is the great honor of my life,” Mayer wrote.
He concluded by wishing the Grateful Dead a happy 60th anniversary and paid homage to founding members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann. Mayer reflected on the honor of standing to Weir’s right, a spot once occupied by the legendary Jerry Garcia, who passed away in 1995 at age 53. “I’ll never come close to playing like @jerrygarcia,” Mayer wrote. “But if I can somehow get you closer to him – and to the spirit he created 60 years ago – then I suppose I’ve done my job. Thank you for accepting me.”
Mayer’s post featured a photo of the band taking a bow before a massive crowd of more than 180,000 attendees, along with images of him performing with Anastasio and Weir, and several live shots from the shows.