“Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation”: John Mayer pays emotional tribute to Bob Weir at public memorial

John Mayer has paid an emotional tribute to the late Bob Weir, whose life and legacy was honored at a recent public memorial at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco on Saturday (January 17).

Weir, the counter-culture guitar icon who helped define the jam band movement with the Grateful Dead, died earlier this month at the age of 78, prompting an outpouring of tributes from the likes of Steve Vai, Trey Anastasio, Joe Bonamassa, Bob Dylan and more.

Mayer, who spent the past 10 years of his professional career playing alongside Weir in Dead & Company, was also among those to honor the guitar juggernaut’s memory, with an emotional post that read, “Thanks for letting me ride alongside you.”

As part of a public memorial service for Weir last weekend, Mayer followed his post with a touching speech that looked back on their bond, which first began when the two started performing Grateful Dead music under the Dead & Company banner back in 2016.

“Bob and I were born on the same day exactly 30 years apart. In the 30 years that had preceded me, Bob had become a counter-cultural icon,” Mayer begins. “I was a child of the 1980s. I come from a world of structural thinking. The concept, the theorizing, the reassessing, the perfecting.

“Bob learned early on that spirit, heat, soul, curiosity and fearlessness was the path to glory. We both found success with each of our templates and then we found each other.

“The echoes of the music Bobby and the Grateful Dead made would lead me to him, through whatever strange and nervy knack I have for sidling up next to the things I’m in awe of. What would follow would become the adventure of a lifetime for me.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe the relationship Bob and I had. We never really went looking for them. We didn’t need to. We stood side by side together in the music. That’s where those 30 years would melt away, and that Libra balance would kick in, and we’d become comrades, sometimes brothers, even if only by one shared parent.

“We were unlikely partners and that was part of our magic. Over the course of a decade we came to trust each other. He taught me, among many other things, to trust in the moment, and I’d like to think I taught him a little bit to rely on a plan.

“Not as a substitute for the divine moments, but as a way to lure them in a little closer. I guess maybe what I was really doing was showing him he could rely on me.

“Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation on my joining a band with him. He gave me musical community. He gave me this community.”

Mayer first crossed paths with Weir via Don Was around 2015. At the time, Mayer had set his sights on recording a followup to 2013’s Paradise Valley but after the opportunity to play with Weir came up, any plans for an imminent record were shelved.

Instead, Mayer and Weir embarked on a journey that will go on to largely define both of their careers, with highlights including a blockbuster Las Vegas Sphere residency and a worldwide farewell tour.

Last year, both Mayer and Weir caught up with Guitar World reflect on 10 years of Dead & Company and discuss their ever-evolving guitar partnership.