In the wake of Bob Weir’s passing, thousands of fans and peers gathered in San Francisco to honour the late Grateful Dead musician, with John Mayer delivering a poignant rendition of ‘Ripple’.
- READ MORE: Bob Weir, 1947-2026: indefatigable rocker who kept the Grateful Dead alive
Last weekend (January 10), news emerged that the legendary rhythm guitarist had died after succumbing to “underlying lung issues” following a battle with cancer.
“He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could,” a statement on Weir’s official social media accounts read, triggering an outpouring of tributes from across the music world.
Yesterday (January 17) saw musicians, among them Mickey Hart, Joan Baez and John Mayer, gather at the Civic Center Plaza to commemorate Weir’s life and legacy. Mayer delivered an emotional eulogy for his friend and mentor, whom he played alongside for years with Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, and paid tribute to with a moving rendition of the 1970 track ‘Ripple’.
“Over the course of a decade, we came to trust each other,” Mayer said to a crowd of thousands of Deadheads. “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.
Today as the Dead faithful celebrated the life of Bob Weir, John Mayer delivered perhaps the only “Ripple” that’s ever made me smile-cry… Highly suggest.😔 pic.twitter.com/MlhMsoMkRA
— friendscallmeJay (@Jaypotta) January 17, 2026
John Mayer honors his close friend and bandmate, Bob Weir, and the “adventure of a lifetime” they had together while performing with Dead & Company at a public memorial held at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco on Saturday.
“Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire… pic.twitter.com/nBLQ77XP6l
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 18, 2026
“I guess maybe what I was really doing was showing him he could rely on me. 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.”
Mayer reflected on Weir’s generosity, telling fans he “lent me his songbook, invited me into the worlds he’d constructed, and taught me what the songs meant and what it meant to perform them,” and said in return, he gave him “everything I had night after night, year after year”.
Mayer also acknowledged the collective sense of loss felt by the Dead’s fans, who, across several decades, have retained their reputation for being some of the most ardent and dedicated followers of any band.
“I know right now it’s easy to feel as if time is speeding up and taking so much from us all,” he said (via Consequence), “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.”
He rounded off by paraphrasing a Leon Russell line he felt Weir might have offered the audience: “But now I’m so much better, so if my words don’t come together, listen to the melody because my love is in there hiding.
Thousands gather to celebrate Bob Weir’s legacy at S.F. “homecoming”
📸: @stephenlamphoto and Yoshi James pic.twitter.com/qE1hNg2zab
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) January 17, 2026
“And so we will all keep listening together. 300 years, Bobby, now that’s a plan I can get behind. Thank you, Maestro. You changed my life. I will love you forever. Thank you.”
Last August saw Weir and co. mark 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park, with the three-night run of Dead & Company shows acting as Weir’s final public performances. The final track he played with them ‘Touch of Grey’, with their rendition of the 1987 Grateful Dead classic – and their only Top 10 hit – marking the last of Weir’s life.
Fans have said it’s not only poignant because it was the last song of the evening, but because the lyrics nod directly to the notion of life being a fine balance of happiness and pain, as summed up in the line: “Every silver lining’s got a touch of grey”.
After the final track played out, and in a moment several fans have also looked back on in the wake of Weir’s death, he later joins his bandmates centre stage as thousands of their fans bid them goodbye, a scene now cemented in psychedelic rock history.
Other homages to Weir have included the Empire State Building in New York City lighting up in tie-dye colours in a nod to his legacy.
Nodding to Weir’s wide-ranging influence on contemporary music, Mark Beaumont wrote for NME: “Weir’s impact on subsequent generations of American rock music was perhaps best evinced by a 2015 Dead tribute box set compiled by The National’s Bryce brothers, ‘Day Of The Dead’.
“The set featured contributions from a vast array of intergenerational acolytes, including The Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Stephen Malkmus, The War On Drugs and Perfume Genius.
“Freak flags are flying at half mast across rock music tonight.”
