Photo of John Mayer performing on 'Late Show' in 2015, by Jeffrey R. Staab
Three core members of The Grateful Dead are teaming up with John Mayer to launch a new group Dead & Company.
The newly formed outfit will make its debut on Halloween (Oct. 31) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with additional performances expected to follow, according to Billboard.
News of a Dead revival had been rumored for sometime, despite the fact that the group recently wrapped a run of summer shows billed as the Fare Thee Well tour, featuring Phish’s Trey Anastasio.
Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann will all take part in the new project, as will bassist Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers and Ratdog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, both of whom participated in the Fare Thee Well shows.
"It was a matter of who wanted to get back out on the road and keep doing it," said Weir of the group's decision to continue playing, calling Mayer’s involvement the "cherry on the sundae that made this project look like a good idea."
Mayer, who has delayed his own album to take part in Dead & Company, attended all of the Fare Thee Well shows. He says it was on the first night that he seriously considered joining the group live: "I went, ‘Oh, this has to happen.' They're too good still, they're too great to roll this back in the shop and call it a day."