Dead & Company, the spin-off supergroup that features John Mayer and members of The Grateful Dead, have announced they will be disbanding next year.
It’s also been revealed the popular offshoot, which also features Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, will perform their final shows in summer 2023 before calling it a day for good.
Announcing the news via social media, the band said a full list of dates for what will be their farewell tour will be announced in the future.
A statement read, “As we put the finishing touches on booking venues, and understanding that word travels fast, we wanted to be the first to let you know that Dead & Company will be hitting the road next summer for what will be our final tour.
“Stay tuned for a full list of dates for what will surely be an exciting, celebratory, and heartfelt last run of shows.”
Dead & Company was first conceived back in 2015, when John Mayer – who at the time was serving as guest host for The Late Late Show – invited Bob Weir onstage to perform Althea: one of the first Grateful Dead tracks that Mayer had ever heard when he first discovered the band on Pandora.
After impressing with his performance, Mayer was then invited to join Weir in Dead & Company, which was formed from Grateful Dead members Weird, Hart and Kreutzmann, as well as guest musicians Chimenti and Burbridge.
Mayer has been kept plenty busy by Dead & Company over the past seven years, touring annually while still updating his solo repertoire with the releases of The Search for Everything and Sob Rock.
The new band experience was also an opportunity for him to experiment with his rig and setup. 2015 more or less coincided with Mayer’s switch to PRS, with whom he developed the Super Eagle II – the guitar that initially became his main touring instrument.
Mayer also started using headphones while playing live with Dead & Company, as he said they helped him become a more dynamic guitar player.
The guitarist has developed a strong connection with his Dead & Company bandmates, particularly Weir, who recently joined Mayer for the latter’s Rise for the River charity concerts.
In his own statement, Weir wrote on Twitter, “Well it looks like that’s it for this outfit; but don’t worry we will all be out there in one form or another until we drop…”
Visit Dead & Company to keep up to date with future tour announcements.
