Grateful Dead Drummer Bill Kreutzmann Addresses Dead & Company’s Sphere Residency

Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann co-founded Dead & Company in 2015 with Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart, as well as guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. Kreutzmann stepped away from the group prior to the start of The Final Tour, which saw Jay Lane playing drums in the band through the tour’s last concert on July 16, 2023.

The 77-year-old drummer’s last appearance with Dead & Company was in January 2023 at their destination event in Mexico. Kreutzmann confirmed his departure from Dead & Co. in April 2023 in an announcement citing, “the culmination of a shift in creative direction” as a reason for the change in personnel. Kreutzmann performed several shows with his Billy & The Kids project in 2023.

Earlier this week, Dead & Company confirmed the band will return to the stage over the course of an 18-show residency at the Las Vegas Sphere. The series of three-show runs will take place on May 16 – 18, May 24 – May 26, May 30 – June 1, June 6 – 8, June 13 – 15 and June 20 – 22. VIP Concert & Hotel Packages — the only way to access ticket bundles for all three weekend shows — are available today (tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 9).

In response to the announcement of the Sphere shows, Kreutzmann posted a message endorsing the residency at the newly opened state-of-the-art concert venue in Vegas. The drummer did not directly address if he would be present for any of the performances, ending his message by writing, “To all those who make it there, have a blast, my friends…”

The text of Billy’s post on social media and the post itself can be read below:

“’We can’t stop here. This is bat country!’ – [Hunter S. Thompson]

“Historically, it was always a psychedelic circus when the Grateful Dead pulled into Las Vegas. There’s a pulsing beneath those neon lights that Mickey and I tapped into while Jerry led us on a wild carpet ride over the Aladdin Theater in the 1980s and down into the bowl of the Sam Boyd Stadium for 14 memorable nights in the 1990s.

“The [Grateful Dead] were always about transformative experiences and so now, as our legacy evolves and as we continue to shape-shift into several different forms at once, it’s great that that part of the tradition continues, with Dead & Company taking up residence in a transformative venue.

“To all those who make it there, have a blast, my friends…”