Grateful Dead’s MusiCares Salute Is Heavy on Gratitude, as All-Star Cast Shares the Lovefest With Bob Weir and Mickey Hart

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” said Bob Weir, getting a big and somewhat chuckle out of the audience, even though he didn’t deliver it as a laugh line.

Weir was accepting an award, along with other members of the Grateful Dead or their family members, as one of MusiCares‘ Persons of the Year at the charity’s annual gala Friday night.

And there was attention paid during the speeches both to the improbable fact that an offshoot of the group, Dead & Company, is still out there playing, 60 years after the original group’s formation, even as Weir acknowledged absences at the dais. “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 said, standing alongside fellow founding Dead member Mickey Hart, who also still performs with him in Dead & Company. “But thank you, Grahame Lesh and Trixie Garcia and Justin Kreutzmann for representing your dads here,” he added, acknowledging the recent passing of Phil Lesh — who died shortly after the MusiCares honor was announced — as well as the long-gone Jerry Garcia, plus the recently retired Bill Kreutzmann, who was absent from the ceremony, presumably for health reasons, but did send along a video speech.

After making his remark about legacies and longevity having been far from their minds most of the way, Weir added, “Lighting folks up and spreading joy through the music was all we really had in mind, and we got plenty of that done.