Thousands of fans celebrate life of legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people gathered Saturday at San Francisco’s Civic Center to celebrate the life of Bob Weir, the legendary guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Dead who died last week at age 78.

Musicians Joan Baez and John Mayer spoke on a makeshift stage in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium after four Buddhist monks opened the event with a prayer in Tibetan. Fans carried long-stemmed red roses, placing some at an altar filled with photos and candles. They wrote notes on colored paper, professing their love and thanking him for the journey.

Several asked him to say hello to fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia and bass guitarist Phil Lesh, also founding members who preceded him in death. Garcia died in 1995; Lesh died in 2024.

“I’m here to celebrate Bob Weir,” said Ruthie Garcia, who is no relation to Jerry, a fan since 1989. “Celebrating him and helping him go home.”

Saturday’s celebration brought plenty of fans with long dreadlocks and wearing tie-dye clothing, some using walkers. But there were also young couples, men in their 20s and a father who brought his 6-year-old son in order to pass on to the next generation a love of live music and the tight-knit Deadhead community.

The Bay Area native joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.” He was generally considered less shaggy looking than the other band members, although he adopted a long beard like Garcia’s later in life.

The Dead played music that pulled in blues, jazz, country, folk and psychedelia in long improvisational jams. Their concerts attracted avid Deadheads who followed them on tours. The band played on decades after Garcia’s death, morphing into Dead & Company with John Mayer.

Darla Sagos, who caught an early flight out of Seattle Saturday morning to make the public mourning, said she suspected something was up when there were no new gigs announced after Dead & Company played three nights in San Francisco last summer. It was unusual, as his calendar often showed where he would be playing next.

“We were hoping that everything was OK and that we were going to get more music from him,” she said. “But we will continue the music, with all of us and everyone that’s going to be playing it.”

Sagos and her husband, Adam Sagos, have a one-year-old grandson who will grow up knowing the music.

A statement on Weir’s Instagram account announced his passing Jan. 10. It said he beat cancer, but he succumbed to underlying lung issues. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, who were at Saturday’s event.

His death was sudden and unexpected, said daughter Monet Weir, but he had always wished for the music and the legacy of the Dead to outlast him.

American music, he believed, could unite, she said.

“The show must go on,” Monet Weir said.

Lee Rice of Palm Desert, Ca. attends a memorial for Grateful Dead band member Bob Weir in San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Fans celebrate the life of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir during a public memorial on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Sarah Black holds a rose while attending a public memorial for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Musicians Joan Baez and Mickey Hart embrace during a memorial for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. At left are Paul and Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

John Mayer embraces Natascha Münter during a public memorial for her husband, Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

An attendee waves a flag during a public memorial for Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Steven Lewis, a third-generation Bay Area native, plays a guitar during a public memorial for Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Jonathan Levine, a music executive who worked extensively with the Grateful Dead, wears an eye patch during a public memorial for the band's co-founder Bob Weir at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attendees gather during a public memorial for Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attendees gather at Civic Center Plaza ahead of a public memorial for Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir in San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

The Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights added an offensive element to their blue line by acquiring defenseman Rasmus Andersson in a trade Sunday with the Calgary Flames.

In parting ways with a player eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Flames acquired veteran defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defensive prospect Abram Wiebe, a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 draft and a conditional second-rounder in 2028. The Flames also agreed to retain 50% of the remainder of Andersson’s salary in the final season of a six-year, $27.3 million contract.

“To be able to get it done with Vegas, they were willing to do it and do it without a contract because that was one thing that was made clear to us just in the last, maybe 12 hours, was there wasn’t going to be an extension signed with any of the teams,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. “That definitely changed the way we had to negotiate and what we got back in return.”

It’s the latest aggressive move made by the Golden Knights after acquiring high-scoring forward Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto this offseason.

The 29-year-old Andersson, selected to represent Sweden at the Milan Cortina Games next month, was regarded as one of the highly prized candidates on the trade market. He’s spent all 10 NHL seasons with Calgary since being selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 draft.

Andersson has reached at least 30 points in each of his past four seasons, and already reached the plateau this year 10 goals and 20 assists. Overall, Andersson has 57 goals and 261 points in 584 NHL games.

The puck-moving player joins a Vegas defensive group missing Alex Pietrangelo, who stepped away from hockey due to health issues last summer, and with Brayden McNabb missing nine games with an upper-body injury.

Andersson is reunited with defenseman Noah Hanifin, who spent five-plus seasons in Calgary, before being traded to Vegas in March 2024.

Vegas has won seven straight, and coming off a 7-2 win over Nashville on Saturday night.

Whitecloud has two years left on a six-year, $16.5 million contract, and was one of the few remaining holdovers from the Golden Knights expansion season-roster in 2017-18. The 28-year-old was an undrafted free agent, has 23 goals and 78 points in 368 career games and won a Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Flames have won just three of eight, and sit 13th in the Western Conference standings, five points out of wild-card contention.

AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to the report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) tangles with Boston Bruins center Alex Steeves (21) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) looks to make a pass as Vegas Golden Knights' Zach Whitecloud (2) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) handles the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)