Dead & Company band member Bobby Weir responded disbelievingly to reports that claim the band will stop touring after 2022, say Stereogum. In the tweet, Weir says, “News to me…” The Rolling Stone article title now reads “Will Dead and Company Stop Touring After 2022?”
Since the initial mix-up, the band also sent the following statement to Rolling Stone: “Dead & Company has made no official decision as to this being their final tour.”
Ever since Grateful Dead lost guitarist Jerry Garcia to a heart attack in 1995, rumors have circulated about the band meeting their end of days. Even so, they continued performing through 2015, when they embarked on and wrapped up their “Fare Thee Well” tour. The same year, bandmates Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann joined John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti under the new name Dead & Company to “revive the Dead’s touring operation.”
Rumors have followed the band in spite of their changes. Just last year in 2021, Dead & Company drummer Bill Kreutzmann missed a handful of shows due to health problems, spurring further whispers of Dead & Company’s end.
Sources close to the band at first claimed Dead & Company would make their final appearances in 2022 but have since switched stances after the band members’ surprised responses.
Tongue in cheek, Dead & Company drummer retweeted Weir’s response:
While John Mayer and Mickey Hart have not added to the conversation on Twitter, they did retweet Dead & Company’s reminder that tickets are on sale for this summer:
Since the band’s conception in 2015, they have toured every summer except in 2020 due to the pandemic. This summer is no exception, and Dead & Company will be returning to the stage starting in Los Angeles on June 11, 2022. They will then travel around the U.S., starting in the west coast and ending in the east coast. Their final show for this tour (not necessarily their final show ever, to be clear) will be in New York on July 16.
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