December 10, 1995
Web posted at: 7:50 p.m. EST
From Reporter Craig Heaps
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- It was a culture, a philosophy, an industry, and a charity. Now The Grateful Dead is gone.
Born 30 years ago, The Grateful Dead flourished like the flowers during the days of peace, love, and tie-dye in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Friday, the Dead announced the band will be no more.
The decision came four months after frontman and co-founder, Jerry Garcia, died in August. And it came almost 30 years to the day from the band's first concert on December 10, 1965. Now, band members will pursue their individual musical careers. They might even play together again, but not as The Grateful Dead.
Over the years, the band collected a devoted cadre of fans. Lately, some were only half as old as the band itself. Many traveled the country going from one Dead concert to another. For some, the nomadic life was their only life. (77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound)
Though the band is gone, fans all over the country believe its spirit will live on. "I think the family itself will pretty much stay together and people who were deadheads yesterday or last year will always be deadheads," said Mark Douglas. His wife, Tracy, added, "The values of being a deadhead will always be there. It's not just going to drop, because it's such a tight-knit family"
One of The Grateful Dead's legacies is the charitable contributions it made. Over the last few years, the band gave $8 million to fight AIDS, help the homeless, save the rain forest and support Rock Medicine, the volunteer organization that worked their concerts and others treating those overcome by drugs.
"Already I'm feeling the pinch, as they say," said Rock Medicine's director, "Raz" Raswick. "But I don't think I'm the only organization in the country that's not feeling a little pinch ."
The employees who toured with the Dead will feel the pinch, as well. "There's crew and there's security guards, and the janitors at the Oakland Coliseum or whatever," said the band's publicist, Dennis McNally. "They're going to have a little less work."
But Grateful Dead Productions, which grossed $50 million last year, will live on in the form of compact discs, tapes, and T-shirts. And the band will live on in the hearts of fans.
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