Mayer recounts that in 2011 he was listening to Pandora and happened upon the song "Althea" by the Grateful Dead, and that soon Grateful Dead music was all he would listen to. In February 2015, while Mayer was guest hosting The Late Late Show, he invited Grateful Dead guitar player Bob Weir to join him in a studio performance. A bond developed between the two, and while Weir and the other three surviving core members of the Grateful Dead were preparing for their 50th anniversary shows, dubbed, Mayer began practicing the band's large catalog of songs. That August, Mayer and original Grateful Dead members Weir, Hart, and Kreutzmann formed the band, along with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and bassist Oteil Burbridge. Mayer expressed a particularly strong enthusiasm toward playing with the new band. Phil Lesh, the original bassist for the Grateful Dead, declined to join. Mike Gordon of Phish briefly auditioned for the bassist role but had to withdraw due to being too busy with other matters.
2015
Dead & Company initially announced only one concert date on October 31, 2015, at Madison Square Garden in New York but announced a full tour shortly afterwards. The shows were called "magical" and the tour was very well received. Following the band's final 2015 performance on December 31, 2015, Mayer told fans that they could expect more Dead & Company concerts in 2016 and this was confirmed by Weir when he was interviewed on Periscope. The band initially had one performance confirmed for 2016 at the Bonnaroo Music Festival but announced a full summer tour on February 8, 2016. On February 18, 2016, the band performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote the tour.
2016
In 2016, Mayer and Weir expressed strong optimism about the band's future, including the possibility of new studio recordings. Mayer said he "will never close the door on Dead & Company, ever." Weir spoke of a "cosmic, out-of-body vision" he had, and a subsequent dream, of the band continuing for decades hence: When Dead & Company played their first festival performance at the 2016 Bonnaroo Music Festival, former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux sat in with the band for several songs. She joined the band again for their shows at Citi Field in Flushing, NY on June 25 and 26, 2016, and at Fenway Park in Boston, MA on July 15 and 16, 2016.
2017
On December 1, 2016, Dead & Company officially announced their 2017 Summer Tour. The tour began on May 27, 2017 and wrapped up on July 1, 2017. The tour consisted of 20 shows in 15 cities. In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, Phil Lesh praised the band's performances, saying "I think they're doing a great job. They're bringing the music to the people just like we always wanted to do, and I commend them for it. I hope they're having a good time. It's not something I could do myself. I'm done with that kind of touring." On September 7, 2017, Dead & Company officially announced their Fall Tour 2017. The tour began on November 12, 2017 and was scheduled to wrap up on December 8, 2017. However, on December 5, Mayer was hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy, which postponed the New Orleans show that night. Dead & Company subsequently postponed the remaining tour dates, rescheduling them in February, following several independent shows in Mexico. The Fall Tour consisted of 16 shows in 14 cities.
2018
On May 30, 2018, the band began their 2018 summer tour, originally set to end on July 14 but extended to include two shows at the Lockn' Festival on August 25 and 26.
2019
From May 31 to July 6, the band played their 2019 Summer Tour. They performed 19 concerts at 14 locations across the U.S. The band played a short fall tour in New York City on October 31 and November 1 followed by 2 shows at Uniondale's Nassau Coliseum on November 5 and 6. They then moved south to Hampton, Virginia on November 8 and 9. On December 27 and 28, they played at The Forum in Inglewood, California as part of their "Fun Run" tour. On December 30 and 31, they played in their hometown of San Francisco at the Chase Center, featuring a bi-plane that descended from the ceiling of the Chase Center carrying the daughters of Jerry Garcia, Trixie Garcia and her half-sister, Ken Kesey’s daughter Sunshine Kesey, dropping rose petals on the audience as they toured the arena.
2020
In January 2020, Dead & Company played three concerts as part of the "Playing in the Sand" event at the Moon Palace resort in Cancún, Mexico. The band planned on performing at New Orleans Jazz Fest and to embark on a 2020 Summer Tour, consisting of 17 dates at 14 locations from July 10 to August 8, all of which were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discography
The band has released no studio recordings, but all of the concerts from their 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 tours have been released on CD, on iTunes, on streaming services and through their Livedead.co website.
