Grateful Dead reunite for final shows

The four surviving members of the Grateful Dead are to reunite one last time for three shows in Chicago this summer, it’s been confirmed.

Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will take to the stage 20 years after the death of frontman Jerry Garcia to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. They’ll be joined by Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby for the Fare Thee Well weekend on July 3, 4 and 5.

The gigs will take place at the city’s Soldier Field – the location of the group’s last performance with Garcia which took place in July 1995. The frontman died a month later following a heart attack.

Lesh says in a statement: “It is with respect and gratitude that we reconvene the Dead one last time to celebrate – not merely the band’s legacy, but also the community that we’ve been playing to, and with, for 50 years.”

Kreutzmann adds: “The Grateful Dead lived an incredible musical story and now we get to write a whole new chapter. By celebrating our 50th, we get to cheer our past, but this isn’t just about history. The Grateful Dead always played improvisational music that was born in the moment and we plan on doing the same this round.”

The band’s original manager Rock Scully died last month aged 73 after a long battle with lung cancer while the group launched eight previously unreleased live shows from 1990 in a 23-disc box set last September.

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