In a nod to underground music that once would have been unthinkable, the Kennedy Center paid tribute to the Grateful Dead via its 2024 honors.
“The Grateful Dead have long since transcended 1960s counterculture,” President Biden declared at a White House reception.
“Their music fills the universe,” said David Letterman, who was on hand at the Dec. 8 ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The actual honorees were the surviving core members of the Dead — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, who were on hand for the bash at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Phil Lesh, who died several months ago, was the fourth honoree, as the nods were announced before he passed. (The Kennedy Center otherwise does not include deceased artists.)
Still, the spirit of Jerry Garcia was alive and well at the Center. “Not Fade Away” closed out the ceremony as audience members danced in the aisles.
Those paying tribute to the Dead included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, actor Miles Teller and actress Chloe Sevigny. Letterman arrived on stage in a prop VW Deadhead van and announced, “I’m so fucked up” (he wasn’t).
Sturgill Simpson performed “Ripple,” and Maggie Rogers and Leon Bridges revisited “Friend of the Devil.”
Other Kennedy Center honorees were singer Bonnie Raitt, director Francis Ford Coppola, Latin jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and the Apollo theater.
The show airs on CBS on Sunday, Dec. 22, at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Biden called their mix of psychedelic and roots music “experimental, innovative and brave.” The aging chief executive declared himself a Deadhead.
Other honors for the Grateful Dead include a slot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1994) and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2007).
Top photo: Front row from left, Arturo Sandoval, Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart; top row from left, Michelle Ebanks, Kamilah Forbes, Jonelle Procope and Billy Kreutzmann
Leave a Reply