{"id":1546925,"date":"2026-01-18T23:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1546925"},"modified":"2026-01-18T23:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:32:10","slug":"watch-john-mayer-pay-tribute-to-bob-weir-with-ripple-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1546925","title":{"rendered":"Watch John Mayer Pay Tribute to Bob Weir With \u201cRipple\u201d Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"
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News<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Watch John Mayer Pay Tribute to Bob Weir With \u201cRipple\u201d Cover<\/h1>\n
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\u201cWe were unlikely partners, and that was part of our magic,\u201d he said during his eulogy for the late Grateful Dead co-founder<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Nina Corcoran<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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John Mayer, January 2026 (Stephen Lam\/San Francisco Chronicle\/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir died earlier this month at age 78, and his public memorial took place last night (January 17) at San Francisco\u2019s Civic Center Plaza. Among the many musicians and former bandmates to appear was John Mayer, who played with Weir in his post-Grateful Dead project Dead & Company. In addition to giving a long, thoughtful speech honoring the late musician, Mayer also performed a solo cover of the Grateful Dead\u2019s 1970 song \u201cRipple.\u201d Watch a replay of that moment below.<\/p>\n

Although Mayer shared a statement immediately following Weir\u2019s death, his eulogy at yesterday\u2019s memorial service was much longer, beginning with an anecdote about Mayer and Weir being born on the same day. \u201cIn the 30 years that preceded me, Bob had become a countercultural icon,\u201d said Mayer. \u201cI was a child of the 1980s. I come from a world of structural thinking, the concept, the theorizing, the reassessing, the perfecting. Bob learned early on that spirit, heart, soul, curiosity, and fearlessness was the path to glory. We both found success with each of our templates, and then we found each other… We were unlikely partners, and that was part of our magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cOver the course of a decade, we came to trust each other. He taught me, among many other things, to trust in the moment, and I\u2019d 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. 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.\u201d Hear his full speech in the video down below.<\/p>\n

Weir played rhythm guitar and handled lead vocals for the Grateful Dead\u2019s 30-year run. He also played in several bands, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur. Dozens of artists have paid tribute to the late icon, including Bob Dylan, Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby, Nancy Wilson, Billy Corgan, and many others.<\/p>\n

Read the Afterword essay \u201cBob Weir\u2019s Cosmic Touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source URL: http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/news\/watch-john-mayer-pay-tribute-to-bob-weir-with-ripple-cover\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Watch John Mayer Pay Tribute to Bob Weir With \u201cRipple\u201d Cover \u201cWe were unlikely partners, and that was part of our magic,\u201d he said during his eulogy for the late Grateful Dead co-founder By Nina Corcoran January 18, 2026 John Mayer, January 2026 (Stephen Lam\/San Francisco Chronicle\/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images) Grateful Dead founding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1546926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1546925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1546925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1546925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1546926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1546925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1546925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1546925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}