Grateful Dead's Bob Weir to get open funeral service in San Francisco

Bob Weir’s send-off will be fit for a California rock ‘n’ roll king.

The acclaimed musician and founding member of the Grateful Dead, who died on Jan. 10, is set to be honored with a public memorial in the band’s hometown of San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 17, according to a press release for the event.

In addition to a memorial service, the commemorative ceremony will include a procession, which is scheduled to travel three blocks down Market Street in the heart of the city.

“A short sacred stop on his homecoming journey, the gathering will center on gratitude, remembrance and togetherness, along with special tributes to honor Bobby,” a statement for the event reads. There will be no live musical performances at the memorial.

Bob Weir arrives for the 67th annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 2, 2025.

Weir, who was diagnosed with cancer in July, died from “underlying lung issues” at age 78, according to a post shared on his official Instagram page. A representative for Weir confirmed the post’s accuracy to USA TODAY at the time but had no further information on Weir’s death.

The psychedelic rocker, alongside Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, formed the Grateful Dead in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960s amid the decade’s counterculture movement.

In August, Weir returned to the band’s Cali stomping grounds for a three-night concert celebration at Golden Gate Park with the Grateful Dead’s spin-off group, Dead & Company.

“Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music,” Weir’s Instagram post stated. “His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them.”

Bob Weir dies: Grateful Dead founding member was 78

When is the Bob Weir memorial?

Weir’s memorial, “Homecoming: Celebrating the Life of Bobby Weir,” will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 12:45 p.m. PT.

Where will Bob Weir memorial take place?

Weir’s memorial will be held at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco.

Prior to the service, a procession will take place between 7th and 9th Streets at approximately 12:30 p.m. PT.

More celebrity deaths: ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams dies at 68 after prostate cancer battle

Passages 2026: Scott Adams, Bob Weir and more stars we lost

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Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the long-running “Dilbert” comic strip, has died at 68 after a battle with prostate cancer. Adams shared his cancer diagnosis in May 2025. In 2023, numerous newspapers dropped his comic strip after he made racist comments saying that white people should “get the hell away from Black people.”

Adams’ ex-wife, Shelly Miles, announced his death during a Jan. 13 livestream. She also read a message from Adams, which he authored at the start of the year. “I had an amazing life,” Adams wrote in his New Year’s Day letter. “I gave it everything I had. If I got any benefits from my work, I’m asking that you pay it forward as best as you can. That’s the legacy I want: be useful. And please know, I loved you all to the very end.”