Grateful Dead Members Laud Bill Walton as Band’s Biggest Fan and ‘The Best Friend I Ever Had’ (2024)
Members of the Grateful Dead and its currently playing spin-off group, Dead & Company, have taken to social media after the death of basketball legend Bill Walton to share their grief and love for the man who was considered the Dead’s biggest celebrity superfan.
Dead & Company, which is in the midst of a residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere, posted a collective statement as well, on top of those of individual members. “Fare you well, fare you well, we love you more than words can tell,” the band posted. “Bill was an irreplaceable force and spirit in our family. Father Time, Rhythm Devil, biggest deadhead ever. Over 1000 shows and couldn’t get enough. He loved this band and we loved him. We will miss our beloved friend, @BillWalton, deeply. Rest in peace and may the four winds blow you safely home.”
The reference to “Father Time” alludes to how the Celtics great dressed up and played that role during a 2015 New Year’s Eve show by Dead & Company in Los Angeles, pictured above, and at earlier shows by Dead offshoot groups, as seen in the photo montage posted on Instagram.
Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann all shared their thoughts individually as well.
Wrote Hart, the drummer for the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company: “Bill was my best friend, the best friend I ever had. He was an amazing person, singular, irreplaceable, giving, loving. His love for our music was beyond description. He called himself the luckiest man in the world but it was us who were lucky—to know him, to share the adventure with him. He was the biggest Deadhead in the world and used our music as the soundtrack to his life. After our shows, he would regularly send messages that said, “thank you for my life.” Over 1000 shows, he just couldn’t get enough. Bill had an incredible passion for drums. After any meal at his house, we would play. There was nothing like a Bill Walton… nothing. There are things you can replace. And others you cannot. Bon voyage, old friend, I love you.”
Weir, the co-frontman of the two groups, posted a photo of himself playfully thumbing his nose at Walton, with the caption: “Yo Bill, thanks for the ride. Thanks for the wonderful friendship, the years of color commentary – and the Hall of Fame existence that you wore like headlights. Bon voyage ol’ buddy. We’re sure gonna miss you – but don’t let that slow you down…”
Bill Kreutzmann, a veteran Grateful Dead drummer and a member of Dead & Company until last year, wrote: “There are incredible stories about Bill Walton that I promised him I would only tell after he passed away, and it’s not nearly that time yet because before we laugh, first we must allow ourselves to cry. Darn it. This is a mournful day. This is a period of mourning. Sure, Bill Walton was an NBA legend. But in the Grateful Dead orbit, he was just a fan – and that made him a legend here, too. In many ways, he was our number one fan… but Bill would’ve taken issue with that ranking because, while he won many awards in his storied basketball career — including MVP — Bill insisted that the Grateful Dead was not a competition — and that all Deadheads were equal.”
He continued, “Similarly, when he walked into a room, you knew it – but it wasn’t because of his size. It was because of that laugh of his that broadcasted joy, and it was his easygoing smile that beamed sunshine across any space he ever entered. So, yeah, losing Bill is an irreplaceable loss and, in simple terms, I am heartbroken. When somebody means that much to you, when their friendship is that important – that’s called love. I loved Bill Walton. As we say in the land of the Dead: May the four winds blow him safely home.”
At Red Rock in 1978: (left to right) Dad aka@BKreutzmann, Adam Walton, Me, Bill Walton. Bill Walton was the nicest guy you ever could meet. Feels like the world got a little darker today. pic.twitter.com/z2Q9EVzFaF
— Justin Kreutzmann (@JustKreutzmann) May 27, 2024
He loved this band and we loved him. Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann all shared their thoughts individually as well. Wrote Hart, the drummer for the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company: “Bill was my best friend, the best friend I ever had. He was an amazing person, singular, irreplaceable, giving, loving.
Bill Walton was himself a fan of The Grateful Dead – he followed them, attending over 850 of their concerts over the decades, becoming known as “Grateful Red.” He wore their shirts while broadcasting in later years, and, once, performed (on drums) with the band at the Giza pyramids.
The band is famous for improvisation during their live performances, and attracted a devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads." According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, the music of the Grateful Dead "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists."
Inspired by the raw sound of the Rolling Stones, the band went electric, adding bassist Phil Lesh and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and morphing into the Grateful Dead, which would soon feature a second drummer, Mickey Hart.
Members of the Grateful Dead and its currently playing spin-off group, Dead & Company, have taken to social media after the death of basketball legend Bill Walton to share their grief and love for the man who was considered the Dead's biggest celebrity superfan.
For Walton, it was only part of his story. "The Celtics and the Grateful Dead represent so much of everything I believe in, live for and try to do with my life," Walton told USA Today. "Because of the culture Red [Auerbach] had built, the Celtics were a family organization. The Grateful Dead, that's a family as well.
the hippies' values, however, none would become so synonymous with the Grateful Dead and their eventual acolytes as the idealistic openness, and limitless personal freedom that sat at the heart of the countercultural ethos. “Do your own thing” was one of the earliest hip maxims.
So, who was the Dead's leading lead vocalist? Bob Weir sang lead vocals on more Grateful Dead tracks than all of Lesh, both Godchaux and Mydland put together. However, the 40 songs he sings as the lead are still no match for Jerry Garcia.
"Turn On Your Lovelight" was one of the longest versions of that song ever played, clocking in at almost 38 minutes. During that song an audience member (who was most likely on drugs) randomly came onto the stage and started telling the audience about the great lake.
Lenny B.Hart". He was convicted of criminal embezzlement and sentenced to six months in jail. The Grateful Dead song "He's Gone" is based on Lenny Hart's embezzlement of band money and subsequent disappearance.
When we think of full-fledged living members of the Grateful Dead, we're usually talking about the “core four”: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. However, two other members— Donna Jean Godchaux and Tom Constanten— are also still alive.
Before Saturday, that record was held by the Grateful Dead, who performed for a crowd of 107,019 paying fans at Raceway Park in New Jersey on Sept. 3, 1977.
Always a bit of a counterculture figure, especially in the world of sports, Walton is unabashed about his love for the Dead. In fact, Walton claims to have gone to over 800 Dead shows in his lifetime.
Simply put: the 5/8/77 Cornell show is probably the most famous and well-regarded Grateful Dead concert of all time. The nearly three-hour concert contains material from across the band's first decade, played on a tour that was renowned for its preciseness and exploration.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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