Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia performing in Oakland, Calif., Jan. 1, 1985. (Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)It was 30 years ago tomorrow that Grateful Dead co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Jerry Garcia died in his room at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility outside of San Francisco, on Aug. 9, 1995. He was 53.
Fans of the pioneering psychedelic rock band known as Deadheads knew this day would come. Garcia had struggled with drug addiction and diabetes for years and was in bad shape weeks earlier during what would be his final tour. He was visibly frail, forgetting lyrics - more so than usual - and mumbling through his songs. Still, the news of his death was no less shocking."I'm probably like a lot of people entering the first waves of numbness," Tom Constanten, former Grateful Dead keyboardist and a close friend of Garcia's, told San Francisco's KCBS radio that night.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementI was also probably like a lot of people, looking to numb myself when I learned of Garcia's death. I had just graduated from high school and was at home in Connecticut, weeks away from going to college, driving around aimlessly in my used Volkswagen Jetta and listening to Dead tapes. (I had a couple hundred bootlegs of live shows, which, for serious Deadheads, was not many.)Since Garcia's death, surviving members of the Grateful Dead, including guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman, have been performing in various incarnations, including Dead & Company - with John Mayer assuming Garcia's role as lead guitarist."I'll never come close to playing like @jerrygarcia," Mayer wrote on Instagram earlier this month following Dead & Company's three-day run at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park celebrating the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary. "But if I can somehow get you closer to him - and to the spirit he created 60 years ago - then I suppose I've done my job. Thank you for accepting me."To mark the 30th anniversary of Garcia's death, Yahoo gathered memories of the iconic guitarist from readers like you.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHere are some of your most vivid and moving responses. They have been edited for length and clarity.
Where were you when you heard the news Jerry died?The San Francisco Chronicle published a special section dedicated to Garcia on Aug. 10, 1995. (San Francisco Chronicle)Mitch W., 57, Wake Forest, N.C.: I was sitting in a rocking chair in my living room down in Boca Raton, Fla. I was just numb, devastated, sad and upset. The music that never stopped had stopped. Even though we knew Jerry was in rehab, we (at least me) figured he would be out soon.
Mark K., 54, Fort Myers, Fla.: I was a young reporter working on Sanibel Island. At first, I thought it was just another rumor, so I called a friend/editor (who worked at the Grateful Dead fanzine Dupree's Diamond News) to confirm. I broke down and cried at my desk. I then collected myself, asked my boss for the rest of the day off, went home and watched all the coverage on TV with my roommate, who was also a Deadhead.
Tony, 52, Lyman, N.H.: I was driving toward the beach to go surfing. I heard three consecutive Grateful Dead songs on the radio - and I just knew. I had to pull over my car. Complete emotional devastation.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJenny W., 56, Chicago: I was working at Kraft Foods as an intern in the tax department. I received a phone call from a friend who let me know. I was devastated. I ended up telling my supervisor that I had a death in the family and needed to go home. I gathered with my friends, and we sat around sharing memories and listening to music. I had just met Jerry in St. Louis earlier that summer. We met in the concierge lounge at the Ritz, where he was grabbing some cookies. He took a picture with me and the cookies. He was amazingly kind.
Jenny, Jerry and the cookies. (Yahoo News/Photo courtesy Jenny W.)Beverly, 51, Lewisville, Maine: I was at an ARCO ampm restocking candy when a customer came in and broke the news. He was not gentle about it, causing me to be utterly devastated.
Ann, 51, Ann Arbor, Mich.: It was my 22nd birthday. I walked in to work the lunch shift at a local bar. Jerry's death was announced on the TV news. I was speechless, then melancholy. I was at the last show at Soldier Field, second row center. We were so close that I didn't know Jerry was wearing shorts. It was unbelievable that he was gone.J. Morgan W., 53, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: I was at home in Fort Lauderdale when WSHE Radio announced Jerry's passing; I thought it was a bad joke. Then after multiple announcements from various news and radio reports, realizing that this news was true, I went out to Peaches Music and purchased the last few Dead CDs to finish my collection.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDori R., 59, Boulder, Colo.: I was driving down the 101 from a TV shoot with my Discovery Channel crew i