Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

U.S. rock group. It was formed in San Francisco in the mid-1960s by Jerry Garcia (1942–95) on guitar, Phil Lesh (b. 1940) on bass, Ron (“Pigpen”) McKernan (1945–73) on keyboards, Bob Weir (b. 1947) on guitar, and Bill Kreutzmann (b. 1946) on drums. The Grateful Dead emerged from the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic-drug-and-music scene, later gaining fame for performing at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and Woodstock. Though they regularly released albums, their focus was on live music. They became one of the country's most successful touring bands, known for Garcia's marathon four-hour musical meanderings and for their entourage of “Deadheads,” a devoted legion of nomadic fans who followed the band in spirited makeshift communities. In the late 1980s a new generation of fans made the Grateful Dead the most successful touring band in the world. They stopped touring after Garcia died of a heart attack at a drug rehabilitation centre.