Watch: Surviving Members of Grateful Dead Remember Phil Lesh, Talk Band’s 60th Anniversary on ‘CBS Mornings’

Photo: Jay Blakesberg

For the first time since Phil Lesh’s sudden passing on October 25, 2025, his Grateful Dead bandmates, Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, sat down to discuss the bassist’s impact, the rapidly impending 60th anniversary of the band and other prevalent topics. 

The conversation occurred between CBS Mornings’ Anthony Mason and the surviving members five days after Lesh’s passing at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. “Phil was originally supposed to be here today,” Mason says. “I was hoping we could play again with him one more time, so that was my sadness on that one,” Kreutzmann acknowledges. “Because I know he wanted to play with us again, too.” 

“Was that in the plans?” Mason questioned, evoking the curiosity of a fan. Weir confirmed the reunion talk, going so far as to share the previous plans, “We were kicking it around. In fact, we were gonna get together and kick some songs around tomorrow.”

Quoting Lesh’s memoir, Mason recites a description of the band’s music, “Some kind of genre-busting, rainbow, polka dot hybrid mutation,” receiving big laughs, and Kreutzmann’s acceptance of the label, “That was close,” and Weir’s own, “That about sums it up.” 

Mason referenced each member’s social media statements and reflections on Lesh, delineating a through-line that the bassist’s impact changed their lives. “You know I owe so much to the stuff that Phil taught me or turned me onto,” Weir confirmed.

“Phil turned me onto Indian classical music. That was a major thing in my life,” Hart underscores. Weir stirred the conversation to the collective, “But we developed this language that only we spoke really…” “He taught us basically how to be free. How to be free… How to play free, not have to play in any set, fixed way…  ‘Cause he was a very unique bass player. It would help us be more improvisational,” Kreutzmann elaborated. 

Adding context to the latest live happenings and hopes for a return, Mason talked about Garcia’s 1995 passing, the arrival of 2015’s 50th anniversary Fare Thee Well concerts, and the hope for a 60th-year celebration. “We just don’t have enough to put a band together right now,” Weir said in response. “Well, not the three of us… We’d have to have other musicians join us, and we have some favorite musicians,” Kreutzmann said.

“Were you planning to do this next year for the anniversary?” Mason asks. While Weir and Kreutzmann both went for the answer, it seemed clear that hope for a reunion was on the horizon. “We were gonna see where it goes, but we were just gonna play the four of us, and now there’s only three of us. That’s different.” 

The program punctuated the trio as among the selected honorees for the 2024 Kenndy Center of Honor, which will occur next month. Scroll down to watch the complete CBS Morning interview with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead below.