The Deadhead bandwagon rolled into Los Angeles Friday night for MusiCares‘ tribute to the Grateful Dead, this year’s Persons of the Year. The lineup featured such prominent Grateful Dead fans as *checks notes* Zac Brown, Noah Kahan, and Maren Morris, but—between the Recording Academy‘s foisting of today’s stars into the tribute to the prolific music industry outsiders the Dead—there were actually some moments at the Los Angeles Convention Center that were pretty alright.
Chief among last night’s highlights was an appearance by bluegrass guitar whizkid Billy Strings for a performance of “Wharf Rat”. Beyond being a touching tribute, the cover had added meaning as Strings has shied away from covering the Grateful Dead since 2022. Though Billy is well-versed in the band’s music, played many of their songs throughout his early come-up, and even played with Bob Weir at his own wedding, Strings hasn’t covered the Dead since sharing the stage with Weir at the Ryman Auditorium in 2022. As he explained in the comments on an Instagram post, “Just too many pigs on the teet. There are sooo many bands trying to suckle off the dead. I’ll leave that to them.” Considering Billy wasn’t selling tickets to last night’s show and Bobby and Mickey Hart were in the building—Bill Kreutzmann was unable to attend but sent a video greeting—it’s reasonable to say Billy got a special dispensation.
Billy Strings — “Wharf Rat” (Grateful Dead) — 1/31/25
[Video: DJVUK]
Backing Strings up was the evening’s house band featuring Phil Lesh’s son Grahame Lesh and Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda on guitars, Bob Weir’s Wolf Bros bassist Don Was and pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Dead & Company keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, and drummers Kendrick Scott and Terence Higgins. The backup band had a fair amount of overlap from last year’s Kennedy Center Honors Gala, another befuddling mix of relevant musicians from the Dead ecosystem like Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks, and Sturgill Simpson alongside famous faces Queen Latifah and actors Miles Teller and Chloë Sevigny. Matthews was due to perform at Friday’s ceremony but canceled his appearance—and one at the previous evening’s FireAid where he was supposed to perform with John Mayer—due to a “critical illness in the family.”
Some other unexpected highlights came from guests on the fringes of the Dead universe. Country music heir Lukas Nelson and skyrocketing singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell teamed up for a touching “Must Have Been the Roses”, with the ever-elegant Ferrell donning an elegant crown of roses atop her sparkling black dress. Southern soul progenies The War and Treaty turned “Samson and Delilah” into a full-blown Sunday gospel revival featuring Stewart Copeland and Mick Fleetwood on drums, and genre-blending pianist Norah Jones delivered a gut-wrenching take on classic singalong “Ripple”.
It must have been those roses… and maybe the rotating stage, what a special night🌹💀@lukasnelso11725 @GratefulDead @MusiCares pic.twitter.com/457cbpZXjR
— Sierra Ferrell (@SierraFerrell) February 11, 2025
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As far as the marquee acts go, John Mayer turned in a unique, stripped-down performance of the Dead’s orchestral opus “Terrapin Station”. The Dead & Company guitarist essentially assumed control of Weir’s Wolf Bros, recruiting bassist Don Was and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti for an acoustic trio rendering. Mayer’s choosing to whistle the melody lines along with his guitar was an interesting decision, but it’s not something you’ll see every Dead cover band do—so he gets some points for the creativity. For Dead & Company’s first performance outside Las Vegas since The Final Tour ended in San Francisco in 2023, the band delivered a tight three-song set of “Althea”, “Sugar Magnolia”, and the obligatory “Touch of Grey” closer.
John Mayer — “Terrapin Station” (Grateful Dead) — 1/31/25
[Video: DJVUK]
After Mayer’s performance, Woody Harrelson recounted some hazy memories with the band as well as “going drugless to Thailand with Bobby, which is not easy for either of us.” Weir and Hart then gave their acceptance speeches, joined by Bill Kreutzmann’s son Justin, Jerry Garcia‘s daughter Trixie, and Grahame Lesh. Weir remarked on the sizable absences from the band’s lineup.
“The road is a rough existence, as plainly evidenced by the simple fact that there aren’t all that many of my old bandmates here tonight to receive this recognition,” Weir told the crowd. “And longevity was never a major concern of ours; lighting folks up and spreading joy through the music was all we really had in mind.”
Mickey reflected on how far the band had come since being harassed in the hippie hysteria of the ’60s, “not too long ago, they wouldn’t let us into Disneyland. Our hair was too long. And the cops, they were chasing us around the country. Fortunately, they gave up, and we’re here tonight.” He also thanked the generations of Deadheads for keeping the band going, even 30 years after Garcia’s death and the end of the Grateful Dead proper.
“The Deadheads have kept the dream alive for 60 years now and continue to take this music into the next century,” he said. “Before the world even knew what to make of us, our community lifted us up and kept us going. Without support, there would be no Grateful Dead.”
Beyond the music, one of the evening’s highlights was some authentic sentiment from Bob Weir. The MusiCares gala was one of the few pre-Grammy Awards events not canceled due to the historic L.A. wildfires, and took place just hours after local officials declared the fires had been 100% contained. The significance was not lost on Weir as he looked toward the future of L.A.
“What we have here in Southern California these days is a rebuild that’s gonna take some time and effort—and an immense amount of teamwork,” Weir said. “My guess is it’s gonna take a few years, but SoCal will be back, stronger and shinier.”
The overall message of the MusiCares gala was one of hope. Here was a band beset by member’s deaths for decades, didn’t win its first Grammy until 12 years after the group ended, and spent the majority of their career as an underground phenomenon—and they were being celebrated by the musical elite. Though it may be cheesy, the “Touch of Grey” refrain “We will get by/We will survive” continues to resonate with people. If that chorus and Friday’s message help people in L.A. and beyond deal with the problems they’re facing—as the Dead’s music has done for 60 years—then that’s all that matters. We all had to get on the bus somehow.