Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead co-founder whose music helped define San Francisco’s counterculture era and whose influence stretched across six decades, will be honored with a public memorial service this weekend in the city where the band was born.
The open funeral gathering, titled “Homecoming: Celebrating the Life of Bobby Weir,” is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at Civic Center Plaza. The event is free and open to the public, with fans encouraged to RSVP in advance.
In addition to the memorial service, a procession will precede the gathering, traveling three blocks down Market Street between Seventh and Ninth streets at approximately 12:30 p.m., according to organizers.
“A short sacred stop on his homecoming journey, the gathering will center on gratitude, remembrance and togetherness, along with special tributes to honor Bobby,” organizers said in a statement.
The memorial will not include live musical performances.
Weir died Saturday, Jan. 10 at 78 after a battle with cancer and underlying lung issues, his family said. Diagnosed last summer, he continued performing into his final months, including a series of high-profile concerts in San Francisco and Las Vegas that many fans later viewed as an unspoken farewell.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Weir co-founded the Grateful Dead in the mid-1960s alongside Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. The band became a cornerstone of the San Francisco psychedelic rock movement, developing a devoted following through marathon concerts, improvisation and a culture that blurred the line between performers and audience.
In August, Weir returned to San Francisco for what would become his final hometown appearances: a three-night run at Golden Gate Park celebrating the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary with Dead & Company, the long-running offshoot he co-led after Garcia’s death.
“Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music,” a statement posted to Weir’s official Instagram account said. “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.”
Saturday’s memorial is expected to draw fans from around the country, many of whom trace formative moments of their lives to Weir’s music and the community it fostered.
Attendings gathering at Civic Center Plaza may enter through Fulton Plaza at 335 McAllister St. Organizers emphasized that the event is intended as a communal remembrance rather than a concert.
“This is a free public gathering honoring Bobby, whose music, spirit and humanity shaped generations,” their statement said. “Together, we will pay tribute in the community and collective heartbeat that he created.”