Grateful Dead Members Reflect on Legacy, Kennedy Center Honors, More in ‘CBS’ Interview (Video)

Survivor Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmannand Mickey Hart recently reunited ahead of their Kennedy Center Honors ceremony to sit for an interview with CBS News‘ Anthony Mason in San Francisco, California Great American Music Hallwhere the band played in 1975 accompanied by live crickets which they accidentally released inside the venue.

Phil Lesh were originally scheduled to join them and they were due to play together for the first time in nearly 10 years the following day, but the death of the bassist just five days before the interview prevented the historic “core four” reunion.

The three musicians discussed Lesh, plans for their upcoming 60th anniversary and more in a segment of the interview that aired before the Kennedy Center Honors. In a recently shared segment of the discussion, Mason asked them what being Kennedy Center honorees meant to them.

“This honor for me is not just for the band members,” Kreutzmann replied. “It’s also for the audience, our Deadheads. It’s for all the people who have really enjoyed our band—”

“And kept us going,” Bob Weir said, before Kreutzmann concluded, “it’s a creative credit to all of us.”

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All three laughed when Mason quoted Phil Lesh’s autobiography, in which he described the band as “kind of a genre-busting rainbow-polka-dot hybrid mutation.”

“That about sums it up,” Weir joked. “We developed this language that only we spoke, really. We followed the mouse.”

Asked about the band’s history of defying music industry norms and how they “created an expectation in the audience that you would evolve and change,” Kreutzmann said, “We couldn’t help ourselves!”

“Excellent observation,” Weir added.

“We chose randomness,” Hart explained. “You know some people like form and knowing what they’re doing. It was the opposite. The idea was to keep our songs open.”

“Create a new form right on the spot,” Kreutzmann said, while Weir added, “Yes, leave room for happy accidents.”

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Later, Weir recounted a dream in which Jerry Garcia visited him and presented a song in the form of a “large sort of ethereal English sheepdog.” When asked if the song ever made it into the real world, he said, “I’m still chasing it.”

The interview also addressed the band’s legacy and whether they expected their music to live on as long as it has, long after Jerry Garcia’s death. Kreutzmann replied, “I didn’t think it would, because when Jerry left, that was the end of the Grateful Dead, period. There’s just no way you can replace a Jerry Garcia.” Fortunately, the music didn’t stop there.

See surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart next CBS Morning below and scroll down to watch the full interview. Revisit coverage of the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors here.

Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart On CBS Morning

Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart extended interview