SAN FRANCISCO — A public memorial honoring the late Bob Weir was held Saturday in San Francisco, where his friend and Dead & Company bandmate John Mayer delivered a eulogy and performed “Ripple.”
“Over the course of a decade, we came to trust each other,” Mayer told the crowd. “He taught me, among many other things, to trust in the moment, and I’d like to think I taught him a little bit to rely on a plan—not as a substitute for the divine moments, but as a way to lure them in a little closer.”
Dead & Company formed in 2015. At the time, some Grateful Dead fans questioned whether Mayer was a good fit because of his younger age and different guitar style.
“I guess maybe what I was really doing was showing him he could rely on me,” Mayer said. “Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation on my joining a band with him. He gave me musical community; he gave me this community.”
In August 2025, Dead & Company marked the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary with three concerts at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. At the time, it was not public knowledge that Weir had been diagnosed with cancer the previous month. News of Weir’s illness was not made public until his death was announced Jan. 10.
“I know right now it’s easy to feel as if time is speeding up and taking so much from us all,” Mayer said. “But I would remind you, as I have tried to remind myself this past week, of just how many nights we all lived so fully in each second, hanging on to every word of Bobby’s, following the music around twists and turns through forests and over majestic vistas, taking in the magnificent interviews and wondering how we all got so lucky to have been found by this music and invited into this dream together.”
Mayer concluded his remarks by saying, “Thank you, Maestro. You changed my life. I will love you forever. Thank you.”