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The guitarist said he needs time to grieve Bob Weir’s death before thinking about returning to the music.
By Scott Bernstein Aug 27, 2026 • 12:30 pm PDT
John Mayer clarified recent remarks that appeared to suggest he was done performing the music of the Grateful Dead, explaining that he is simply giving himself time to grieve following the death of Bob Weir.
Mayer discussed the comments during a Wednesday conversation with Andy Cohen for SiriusXM’s Radio Andy ahead of his intimate concert at Stephen Talkhouse in The Hamptons. The show was Mayer’s first full-band performance of 2026 and only concert of the summer.
The guitarist recently told USA Today that he had “gone back to my corner” and described himself as now being “in the crowd with everybody” rather than on stage performing the Grateful Dead’s music. Mayer explained to Cohen that the remarks were specifically about his current grieving process.
“I think part of the grieving process is to hang it up,” Mayer said. “Like, if you don’t hang it up then you don’t grieve fully.”
The guitarist emphasized that his comments were not intended to signal a permanent departure from performing Grateful Dead music.
“In no way is that my… I’m not swearing it off,” Mayer said. “I’m not saying, like, you’ll never see me on stage doing that.”
Mayer added that he does not yet know what a return to the music might look like and does not want to think about it right now.
“I don’t know how you will yet, and I don’t really want to start thinking about actionable ways to do it,” Mayer explained. “I kind of want to, like, wallow a little. I kind of, I think it’s important sometimes to say, ‘Well, that’s that.’ Okay. So that you can feel it and go through that and mourn that.”
When Cohen summarized Mayer’s comments as meaning he needs time to finish grieving before thinking about the future, Mayer agreed.
“I’ll think about it,” Mayer said. “Let me just, like, hang up the jersey for a while.”
Mayer spent 10 years performing alongside Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann in Dead & Company. The group formed in 2015 and continued touring through 2023, with Jay Lane replacing Kreutzmann for the band’s final tour. Dead & Company subsequently performed residencies at the Sphere in Las Vegas in 2024 and 2025 before playing three shows at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in August 2025.
Weir died on January 10, 2026 at age 78. Mayer’s comments come as fans and members of the Grateful Dead community continue to mourn the legendary guitarist and consider what comes next for the music he helped create.
For now, Mayer made clear that he is not making plans for a return to the stage with the Grateful Dead’s music. He is simply giving himself space to grieve.
“I don’t have any specific plan,” Mayer told Cohen. “I hope people understand that.”
Watch the portion of Mayer’s chat with Cohen about the Grateful Dead below:
Andy Cohen’s full pre-show interview with Mayer will air on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy (Ch. 102) on Friday, August 28 at 10 a.m. ET and will also be available on the app. Mayer’s intimate Hamptons show will premiere on Life with John Mayer (Ch. 4) on Saturday, August 29 at 8 p.m. ET and will also be available on the SiriusXM app.
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