Photo: During the January 2018 NAMM Show NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond presented member Bob Weir with the organization’s Music for Life Award. Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images.
Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir was honored at the opening of the 2018 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim, California. NAMM’s highest honor, the Music for Life Award, honors Weir’s five-decade career and pioneering spirit, influencing musical styles, sound design, and the music business.
NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond presented the award saying, “The Grateful Dead inspired a movement by taking incredible risks musically, culturally and in terms of how they approached the music business. They did so out of a passion for music making and, as a result, continue to inspire musicians to this day. We’re honored to present Bob Weir with the Music for Life Award for this his unabashed passion for music making, support for music education and so many more achievements in his long career.”
Weir offered a bit of creative wisdom for the audience of music professionals. “If you’re always going for it, the muse is always leading you in some direction. If you have faith in your muse, you’re going to get somewhere-if you put shoulder to the wheel. Every artist of any stripe is a storyteller, and the way you weave it together represents what makes life worth living.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is currently a member of Dead & Company, which features Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with singer-songwriter John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti. Weir will tour this spring with fellow Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh.
Past recipients of the Music for Life Award have included business leaders, public officials and musicians, including Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Yoko Ono, Henry Mancini, Smokey Robinson, and Robbie Robertson. It is awarded each January during the global music products gathering, The NAMM Show.
