The death of Bob Weir earlier this month left just two surviving members of the Grateful Dead: drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Perhaps a case can be made that keyboardist Tom Constanten is a third if we’re stretching things: His tenure in the band lasted slightly over a year, between late 1968 and early 1970. But ultimately, the band, which has always been prone to loss, is slowly vanishing.
The first death of a member was Ron “Pigpen” McKernan back in 1973, which began a tragic run for the band’s many keyboardists. The death of Jerry Garcia in 1995 forced the Dead to dissolve, though the members continued to play the group’s music in various incarnations and offshoots.
We have no clue what the future of Dead & Company holds without Weir. But we do know that the group’s past has been documented in stunning detail, and tapes exist of practically every show the Grateful Dead has ever played. That means we can go back and hear the very last performances by the various members before, as Weir liked to call it, they “checked out.” Here then, presented chronologically, are the final curtain calls of every dearly departed member of the Dead.
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan
McKernan was a founding member of the Grateful Dead and a pivotal part of their chemistry in the early days, but his performances began to suffer in the late Sixties due to chronic alcoholism and an autoimmune disorder. In 1968, they brought in Constanten to play keyboards and relegated McKernan to percussion. He returned to his original keys role in early 1970 when Constanten left, but continued to behave erratically, and frustrations in the band quickly mounted, with the group hiring Keith Godchaux. For a short period captured on the Europe ’72 live album, the two of them shared the stage. But McKernan left the group for good in the summer of 1972. He died from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage less than a year later.
Final Show: Grateful Dead, June 17, 1972 @ Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles
Last Song: “One More Saturday Night”
Death: March 8, 1973
Keith Godchaux
To many Deadhead, the Grateful Dead were at their absolute peak as a live act when Keith Godchaux was behind the keys and his wife, Donna Jean Godchaux, was on vocals. And even though Keith rarely sang lead besides on “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away” from 1973’s Wake of the Flood, his work on the organ and upright piano was stellar. But as the Seventies wore on, Keith began became a heavy heroin user and an alcoholic. His last show with the Dead was Feb. 17, 1979, at the Oakland Coliseum. Soon afterwards, he formed the Heart of Gold Band with Donna Jean. They played only a single concert before he died from injuries he sustained in a car accident on his 32nd birthday.
Final Show: Heart of Gold Band, July 10, 1980 @ Back Door Cafe in San Francisco
Last Song: “Lonesome Highway”
Death: July 23, 1980
Brent Mydland
In 1979, the Grateful Dead hired Brent Mydland to replace the outgoing Keith Godchaux. “The Grateful Dead is already full of rhythm instruments,” he said in 1987, “so a lot of the times it’s better to lay back, let the rhythm happen, and just color it…I feel like I’m pretty much there to color more than paint the picture the start with.” He was also a great singer who added to the vocal harmony, and took lead on several songs, including “Hey Jude,” “The Weight,” and “Gimme Some Loving.” Tragically, history repeated itself and Mydland faced severe addiction issues during his time in the band. He died of an overdose in the summer of 1990.
Final Show: Grateful Dead, July 23, 1990 @ World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois
Last Song: “The Weight”
Death: July 26, 1990
Jerry Garcia
The Grateful Dead lost its heart and soul in 1995 when Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack after years of hard living and medical setbacks. “There’s no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or player,” said Bob Dylan. “I don’t think eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great, much more than a superb musician, with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He is the very spirit personified of what ever is muddy-river country into the spheres. He really has no equal…To me he wasn’t only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know. There are a lot of spaces and advances between the Carter family, Buddy Holly and, say, Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was muddy, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. There’s no way to convey the loss. It just digs really deep down.”
Final Show: Grateful Dead, July 9, 1995 @ Soldier Field in Chicago
Last Song: “Box of Rain”
Death: Aug. 9, 1995
Vince Welnick
For the final five years of their run, the Grateful Dead brought former Tubes keyboardist Vince Welnick into the fold. “Vince had a sparkliness about him,” Bob Weir told Rolling Stone in 2006. “He was a gifted musician, and there were times when he really stepped up and took lead.” Welnick briefly toured with Weir in RatDog after the Dead disbanded, but he was plagued by mental health issues, and wasn’t invited to participate in the various reunion offshoot bands. He was enraged by the situation. In 2006, he took his own life. “I pray peace finds him,” Weir told Rolling Stone after the news hit. “We dealt with him with love, deep compassion, and the truth as we knew it. We could not remake the world in his vision.”
Final Show: Vince Welnick and Gent Treadly, April 14, 2006 @ Green Parrot in Key West, Florida
Last Song: Unknown. (There’s no known audio or setlist from his very last gig. The last confirmable performance was “Good Lovin’” from April 7, 2006, which was captured on video.)
Death: June 2, 2006
Phil Lesh
When the Grateful Dead folded, bassist Phil Lesh formed Phil Lesh & Friends with a rotating lineup of musicians. They toured America with Dylan and headlined theaters all across the country. Lesh occasionally joined forces with his ex-bandmates when they toured as the Other Ones and the Dead — and he formed Furthur with Weir and former Dark Star Orchestra bandleader John Kadlecik in 2009 — but he didn’t participate in Dead & Company. He last played with the others at the 2015 Fare Thee Well shows. He died in 2024 after years of health issues. “Phil wasn’t particularly averse to ruffling a few feathers,” Weir wrote when Lesh died. “We had our differences, of course, but it’s not platitudinous to say that that only made our work together more meaningful.”
Final Show: Phil Lesh and Friends, July 21, 2024 @ McNears Beach Park, San Rafael, California
Last Song: “Sugar Magnolia”
Death: Oct. 25, 2024
Donna Jean Godchaux
Prior to her days in the Dead, Godchaux was a prominent background vocalist who sang on Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” in addition to songs by Neil Diamond, Cher, and Boz Scaggs. She joined the Dead’s touring lineup in 1971 as a vocalist. And as many bootleg aficionados can attest, she was occasionally a bit pitchy. “Everything was so loud onstage,” she said decades later, “and not to mention being inebriated. I can’t defend myself very much, but I can’t blame it all on that.” She left the Dead in 1979 along with her husband, keyboardist Keith Godchaux. But she remained close to all the members, and often played with their solo acts along with various Dead tribute bands. In 2016, Dead & Co. invited her onstage at a series of U.S. dates, including Bonnaroo and Fenway Park. She died in 2025 after a long battle with cancer.
Final Show: Dark Star Orchestra ,July 8 2018 @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado
Last Song: “I Know You Rider”
Death: Nov. 2, 2025
Bob Weir
In the aftermath of Garcia’s death, nobody worked harder to keep the music alive than Weir. He toured relentlessly with RatDog, the Other Ones, the Dead, Dead & Company, and eventually Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. To a generation of fans born after the Dead dissolved, Weir was the essence of the Grateful Dead. And he continued playing just as long as his health allowed, even participating in the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary shows in August 2025 after learning he had cancer. “Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts,” his family wrote in a statement. “Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design. As we remember Bobby, it’s hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived. A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas.”
Final Show: Dead & Company, Aug. 3, 2025 @ Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
Last Song: “Touch of Grey”
Death: Jan. 10, 2026
