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(Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bobby Weir)

The Grateful Dead is a social and musical phenomenon that grew into a genuine American treasure. Formed as a quintet in California in 1965, the Grateful Dead became as much a folktale as the story from which they drew their name. Fusing rock and roll, folk, and jazz with avant-garde, visual, and literary traditions—and virtually inventing a new way to play music in the process—they became one of the most popular, enduring, and influential bands in American history.

In 1965, an entire generation was linked together by common ideals, gathering by the hundreds and thousands. This movement created a seamless connection between the band and its fans, known as Dead Heads, who followed the band not because it was part of popular culture but because it was a true counterculture that exists to this day—one that earnestly believes in the value of its beliefs. By 1995, the Grateful Dead had attracted the most concertgoers in the history of the music business, and today remains one of the all-time leaders in concert ticket sales. They created an unparalleled original songbook through 30 years of recording and touring, never playing the same setlist twice (except that once), making their musical legacy unfathomably rich, spread across a combined body of live and studio recordings.

Today, the connection between the band and its fans is as strong as ever. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. In 2024, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 59th Top 40 album on the Billboard chart, a feat no other artist has achieved.

Emerging as a vessel for a vibrant global counterculture, the Grateful Dead created an artistic ecosystem all their own, transforming American music and arguably even America itself. Their influence on music and culture has been profound, and even after Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, the band's legacy has endured. Surviving members have continued to perform in various configurations ensuring that the music and spirit of the Grateful Dead live on.

Recent Kennedy Center history:

Bandmember Mickey Hart’s Drum Circle appeared as part of the Center’s 2018 Sound Health: Music and the Mind initiative; Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros (featuring the Wolfpack) performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in October 2022.