Frank Stoltze
is a veteran reporter who covers local politics and examines how democracy is and, at times, is not working.
Updated September 9, 2023 2:06 PM
Published August 28, 2023 5:00 AM
Mark Ridley-Thomas and Common help a Men's Central Jail inmate register to vote when Ridley-Thomas was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
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Courtesy Bryan Chan
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Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
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Topline:
Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose long political career representing South Los Angeles on the City Council, the County Board of Supervisors and in the State Legislature, was sentenced today to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine for his conviction on corruption charges.
In March, a jury found the former county supervisor guilty of conspiring to support a county contract for USC in exchange for one of the school’s deans providing his son a full scholarship and faculty job.
Why it matters: Mark Ridley-Thomas represented South L.A. on the City Council, the state Legislature and the County Board of Supervisors. His influence was evident from his efforts to revitalize Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital and to bring the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) to downtown LA.
Why now: With his sentencing scheduled for today at 10 a.m., many supporters say Ridley-Thomas has been one of the city’s most progressive leaders, and that his conviction shouldn’t mean forgetting all he did.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose long political career involved representing South Los Angeles on the City Council, the County Board of Supervisors and in the State Legislature, was sentenced Monday to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine for his conviction on corruption charges.
While acknowledging that Ridley-Thomas has done "an enormous amount of good" for the community over three decades of public service, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer said in handing down the sentence that Ridley-Thomas has shown "no remorse" and that “the entire community has been victimized.”
Fischer added that deterrence of public corruption “is an extremely important factor in this case.”
MRT's statement to the court
In a statement to the court, Ridley-Thomas said his actions — "and the fallout from those actions — have hurt my family, beginning with my wife of 44 years who should never have had to go through an ordeal like this. I apologize to her with every breath and with my whole heart. And I apologize to my sons, my daughter-in-law and grandchildren, as well as other family members whose lives have been disrupted and traumatically impacted."
Ridley-Thomas, 68, has appealed his conviction. In his statement, he said he believed it was "fair to say that this case exists somewhere between what is clearly legal conduct on one end, and clearly illegal conduct on the other. In between there is a line that distinguishes actions that are illegal — and actions that may be ill-advised, but NOT illegal."
Mark Ridley-Thomas Allocution Statement
Good morning, Your Honor, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to address the Court. I've had a full and intense twenty months, to reflect on the circumstance in which I find myself. It is true that I have chosen to exercise my constitutional rights as a citizen to offer the best possible defense for myself.
But I feel that it's important, Your Honor, to make it clear to you that I in no way want to convey anything but respect for you, and for this Court. Further, I want to assure you that when this is completed I will accept the outcome of this judicial process and give full and respectful compliance in accordance with the law.
Your Honor, I believe it's fair to say that this case exists somewhere between what is clearly legal conduct on one end, and clearly illegal conduct on the other. In between there is a line that distinguishes actions that are illegal — and actions that may be ill-advised, but NOT illegal.
While I definitely disagree as to whether I crossed that line into illegal conduct, I acknowledge with clarity where I belonged was at the end of the spectrum where there would be little, if any, question of even the appearance of unlawfulness. The very perception that I deviated from proper conduct in this matter is truly distressing as well as harmful, and I deeply regret it.
My actions — and the fallout from those actions — have hurt my family, beginning with my wife of 44 years who should never have had to go through and ordeal like this. I apologize to her with every breath and with my whole heart. And I apologize to my sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, as well as other family members whose lives have been disrupted and traumatically impacted.
Additionally, the anguish that I feel causes me to say I’m so sorry to all of my constituents, colleagues and employees who have believed in me for many years, but who may now have doubts. I sincerely apologize to them not only for playing a role in bringing about those doubts — but also for no longer being able to be there for them in service. I can only trust and believe that the future will afford me the opportunities to continue to find ways to serve them and their families, to remove doubt and to restore faith.
Your Honor I give you, and my former constituents, on all those here today and all those here today my pledge that I will find a way to continue to learn from this devastating experience, to emerge from it as a more conscientious person, and to go forward once this is behind us with humility, with renewed commitment to service and with undaunted hope for a purposeful life dedicated to the communities who rightfully expect and deserve the very best of me.
Your Honor, I thank you.
Reactions to the sentence
On Monday, the courtroom and an overflow room at the Downtown LA federal courthouse were packed with supporters of Ridley-Thomas.
“This is a very sad day for so many of us,” said Rev. Norman Johnson Sr. of First New Christian Church, who also heads the Ridley-Thomas support group called South LA Clergy for Public Accountability. He noted sentencing came on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington.
“Mark Ridley-Thomas represents the best of that March in terms of freedom, transformative politics and the affirmation of the value and worth of every human being," he said.
Cornel West, the civil rights and political activist who has launched a third-party candidacy for president, attended a rally in support of Ridley-Thomas prior to sentencing.
“Mark Ridley-Thomas is one of the greatest public servants in the history of this state," he said. “His integrity cannot be called into question by legal proceedings.”
U.S. Attorney Martín Estrada praised the prison sentence, even though it was below the six years in prison his prosecutors had recommended. "It shows that regardless of what type of power one has, there will be consequences when you engage in corruption," Estrada said.
U.S. Attorney Martîn Estrada addresses the media after Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced on federal corruption charges on Aug. 28, 2023
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What's next
Judge Fischer ordered Ridley-Thomas to surrender by Nov. 13. It was unclear whether Ridley-Thomas will be allowed to stay out of prison while he appeals his case.
Speaking on behalf of his family, Ridley-Thomas' son Sinclair said, “We are deeply disappointed.” Ridley-Thomas's attorney, Galia Amram, added, “This whole case has been devastating for the supervisor.”
How we got here
In March, a jury found the former county supervisor guilty of conspiring to support a county contract for USC in exchange for one of the school’s deans providing his son a full scholarship and faculty job. The dean also helped funnel money from a Ridley-Thomas political fund to one operated by his son through the university.
In some quarters, there were harsh words for Ridley-Thomas in the wake of his conviction.
Ridley-Thomas “defrauded the people of the county,“ Estrada said after the jury handed down the verdicts in March. “Any time a politician engages in corruption and breaches his duty of trust to the public, it is a great crime that must be brought to justice.”
“The guilty verdicts mark a defeat for the public-relations campaign by Ridley-Thomas and his allies leading up to his trial that succeeded in muting criticism and, for some, muddying the waters over the federal charges of self-dealing he faced.”
Johnson also likes to point out that Ridley-Thomas wasn’t always progressive — he voted to keep a Christian cross on the official L.A. County seal, albeit for historical reasons.
Looking back on MRT's career
The TV camera pans the crowd of protesters outside Parker Center, the old LAPD headquarters on Los Angeles Street. It is 1991, three days after the beating of Rodney King.
LA Roots
Mark Ridley-Thomas graduated from Manual Arts High School and earned a master’s degree in religious studies from the now-closed Immaculate Heart College in L.A. Later, he earned a Ph.D. in social ethics and policy analysis from USC.
Mark Ridley-Thomas is among them.
“His time has ended,” he declares of the LAPD’s notorious leader at the time, Chief Daryl Gates. Hours earlier, Ridley-Thomas was part of a delegation that met with Gates during a “candid exchange” with “sharp disagreement.”
“We wanted to look him in the eye and make it clear that he knew where we stood.”
For more than four decades, Ridley-Thomas was in the middle of some of the biggest political battles in L.A. He didn’t limit himself to local issues.
Audio from the Pacifica Radio Archives features Ridley-Thomas at a 1980s-era protest outside a Century City fundraiser for President Ronald Reagan. He rails against Reagan’s support of the apartheid regime in South Africa and against the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government’s human rights abuses.
“We have to say no to apartheid as well as say no to intervention in Central America,” he shouts into a bullhorn.
Legacy of progressive activism
Many say Ridley-Thomas has been one of the city’s most progressive leaders, and that his conviction shouldn’t mean forgetting all he did.
Mayor Karen Bass knew Ridley-Thomas back in the 1980’s, when he was executive director of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — the organization Martin Luther King, Jr. started in 1957.
“For decades, Mark Ridley-Thomas has been a champion for our city, a civil rights activist, a thought leader, and a policy maker who made a real impact on this city,” Bass said after Ridley-Thomas' conviction.
Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas answers the media's questions in USC's Associates Park on Jan. 19, 2013.
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On the website of Community Coalition, the organization Bass helped found in 1991, Ridley-Thomas is quoted recalling discussions with her and others about alternative ways to approach the crack epidemic ravaging South L.A. at the time.
“It began in the late ‘80s as a conversation about how we could more intelligently, humanely and effectively respond to this crisis,” he said.
In his early work, Ridley-Thomas played an instrumental role in building relationships in South L.A. as it turned from predominantly African American to Latino, said former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who worked with him on the issue during that time.
“He thought early on that it was important that we come together and focus on our commonalities while also discussing differences,” said Villaraigosa, who co-chaired the Latino-Black Roundtable with Ridley-Thomas. He said at one point the two appeared together on the cover of LA Weekly with the headline, “The New Progressives.”
MRT's City Council career
Ridley-Thomas was elected to the City Council representing South L.A.’s eighth district. He served from 1991 to 2003.
In one of his first major acts, Ridley-Thomas established what he called an Empowerment Congress to encourage community participation in governance and connect people to city services. The group has endured. Its annual meetings attract more than 1,000 people. It helped inspire the city’s neighborhood council system.
Portrait of Councilman Mark Ridley Thomas, taken at an NFL News Conference held at Macy's Plaza, downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 9, 1999.
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Jaime Regalado, the former head of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A., recalls how Ridley-Thomas supported a controversial gang intervention training program that used former gang members to help young people.
“There’s a whole history of things that he supported that very few politicians would touch,” said Regalado.
There’s a whole history of things that he supported that very few politicians would touch.
— Jaime Regalado on Ridley-Thomas's legacy
Ridley-Thomas was ahead of his time when it came to funding programs to combat sexual and domestic violence, according to Patti Giggans, executive director of the nonprofit Peace Over Violence.
“Mark was very committed to the issue of preventing violence against women and girls way before #MeToo,” she said. “He was one of the few men who stood up for survivors at the time.”
'Consummate tactician and strategist'
Ridley-Thomas played a crucial role in the building of Staples Center, now called Crypto.com Arena, said John Semcken of Majestic Realty. At Majestic, Semcken was responsible for the development of the arena in the late 1990s.
Ridley-Thomas helped win the support of reluctant fellow council members, including Joel Wachs, who made a name for himself by making ever-increasing demands of the developers, according to Semcken. “Mark sat me down and said, ‘You need to give him a win because he can’t back out,’” he recalled.
They cut a deal.
“Staples Center never would have been built if it weren’t for Mark Ridley-Thomas,” he said.
Semcken called Ridley-Thomas “the most effective politician I have ever met in my life, and I have met a lot of them.”
“He’s the consummate tactician and strategist,” said Villaraigosa.
A pivotal seat: the L.A. County Board of Supervisors
Ridley-Thomas spent four years in the state legislature before returning to L.A. to run for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors in 2008. He served the maximum of 12 years.
On the board, Ridley-Thomas fought to reform the Department of Children and Family Services, authored the county’s minimum wage ordinance, and for years was the lone voice in favor of the creation of a civilian board to watchdog the Sheriff’s Department.
Mark Ridley-Thomas Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors attends the BAFTA LA opening of the Helen Keller Park Screening Room at Helen Keller Park on Dec. 10, 2014 in Los Angeles.
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“He was our only champion,” said Mark-Antony Clayton-Johnson of Dignity and Power Now, a nonprofit that advocates for changes at the department and in the jails. “He was the only one that was willing to push for independent civilian oversight.”
Ridley-Thomas patiently waited for the election of two new members of the five-member board who would support the proposal — then successfully pushed it through.
But perhaps Ridley-Thomas’ crowning achievement as a supervisor was the 2015 reopening of a vastly improved Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South L.A. It had been closed for nearly a decade after the federal government pulled funding over a series of problems, including controversial patient deaths that earned it the nickname “killer King.”
“He made it clear that he was simply not going to rest until that institution was resurrected,” said Robert Ross, CEO of The California Endowment.
It wasn’t easy. Ridley-Thomas had to maneuver over myriad bureaucratic and political hurdles. He also wanted a project labor agreement that would give job preferences to people who lived nearby and from low-income zip codes. But he couldn’t get anyone on the board to second his motion, according to his longtime chief of staff, Vincent Harris.
Ridley-Thomas convinced the board’s arch-conservative Mike Antonovich to second the motion — just to initiate a debate.
“He did not let ideological differences get in the way,” Harris said. “It illustrated his ability to reach across the lines.”
Ridley-Thomas ended up winning two more votes for an agreement that provided jobs to people who may otherwise never have worked on the project — even though Antonovich voted no.
“He’ll be remembered as one of the stalwarts of not only the African American community but of progressive communities around L.A.,” Regalado said.
Regal — or roughshod?
Over 31 years in public office, Ridley-Thomas almost always wore a tie, was deliberate in his speech, and tended to lecture when he spoke. He could be in love with his own words — more than most politicians. He could be hard to work for, say former staff.
What was to some Ridley-Thomas’ regal and thoughtful stature was to others pompous and arrogant.
“What is viewed as confidence and boldness in a white male is often viewed as arrogance in an African American,” said Ross, who is Black. He noted Ridley-Thomas “didn’t suffer fools gladly.”
An anti-boycott protester (L) confronts Los Angeles County supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (R) after they voted 3-2 for Los Angeles County to join a boycott of the state of Arizona, in Los Angeles on June 1, 2010.
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Ross declined to comment on the guilty verdicts handed down to Ridley-Thomas, but lamented his loss from the political scene. After his conviction, Ridley-Thomas was required to relinquish the city council seat he won in 2020.
“The injustice to me is Mark Ridley-Thomas being removed from the playing field of civic leadership and civic engagement,” Ross said.
Rabbi Steven Jacobs worked with Ridley-Thomas on numerous issues over the decades.
“Mark has made L.A. a greater city,” he said.
Jacobs said Ridley-Thomas must now figure out a way to contribute in a new capacity, recalling how the legendary violinist Itzhak Pearlman once played on during a concert despite losing one of his strings.
“It's his duty to continue to make music with what remains,” he said.
Veteran actor T.K. Carter, who appeared in the horror film "The Thing" and "Punky Brewster" on television, has died at the age of 69.
Details: Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.
DUARTE, Calif. — Veteran actor T.K. Carter, who appeared in the horror film "The Thing" and "Punky Brewster" on television, has died at the age of 69.
Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.
Thomas Kent "T.K." Carter was born Dec. 18, 1956, in New York City and was raised in Southern California.
He began his career in stand-up comedy and with acting roles. Carter had been acting for years before a breakthrough role as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, "The Thing." He also had a recurring role in the 1980s sitcom "Punky Brewster."
Other big-screen roles include "Runaway Train" in 1985, "Ski Patrol" in 1990 and "Space Jam" in 1996.
"T.K. Carter was a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres," his publicist, Tony Freeman, said in a statement. "He brought laughter, truth, and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike."
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published January 11, 2026 7:29 AM
People hold signs as they protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
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Topline:
Demonstrations against the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis are taking place all weekend across Los Angeles.
Check out ... these photos from some of the protests.
Downtown Los Angeles
A person in an inflatable frog suit holds a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A woman holds incense during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images)
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A tourist bus drives past as people protest in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
Alison Brett (far right) of La Crescenta at the Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10, 2026.
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Josie Huan
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Casey Law of South Pasadena at Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10.
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By Chandelis Duster and Sergio Martínez-Beltrán | NPR
Published January 11, 2026 6:34 AM
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Topline:
People have been taking to the streets nationwide this weekend to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer this week.
Where things stand: At least 1,000 events across the U.S. were planned for Saturday and Sunday, according to Indivisible, a progressive grassroots coalition of activists helping coordinate the movement it calls "ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action."
People have been taking to the streets nationwide this weekend to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer this week.
At least 1,000 events across the U.S. were planned for Saturday and Sunday, according to Indivisible, a progressive grassroots coalition of activists helping coordinate the movement it calls "ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action."
Leah Greenberg, a co-executive director of Indivisible, said people are coming together to "grieve, honor those we've lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long."
"Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today," Greenberg said in a statement on Friday. "ICE's violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent."
Large crowds of demonstrators carried signs and shouted "ICE out now!" as protests continued across Minneapolis on Saturday. One of those protestors, Cameron Kritikos, told NPR that he is worried that the presence of more ICE agents in the city could lead to more violence or another death.
"If more ICE officers are deployed to the streets, especially a place here where there's very clear public opposition to the terrorizing of our neighborhoods, I'm nervous that there's going to be more violence," the 31-year grocery store worker said. "I'm nervous that there are going to be more clashes with law enforcement officials, and at the end of the day I think that's not what anyone wants."
Demonstrators in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
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NPR
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The night before, hundreds of city and state police officers responded to a "noise protest" in downtown Minneapolis. An estimated 1,000 people gathered Friday night, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and 29 people were arrested.
People demonstrated outside of hotels where ICE agents were believed to be staying. They chanted, played drums and banged pots. O'Hara said that a group of people split from the main protest and began damaging hotel windows. One police officer was injured from a chunk of ice that was hurled at officers, he added.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the acts of violence but praised what he said was the "vast majority" of protesters who remained peaceful, during a morning news conference.
"To anyone who causes property damage or puts others in danger: you will be arrested. We are standing up to Donald Trump's chaos not with our own brand of chaos, but with care and unity," Frey wrote on social media.
Commenting on the protests, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NPR in a statement, "the First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting, assault and destruction," adding, "DHS is taking measures to uphold the rule of law and protect public safety and our officers."
In Philadelphia, police estimated about 500 demonstrators "were cooperative and peaceful" at a march that began Saturday morning at City Hall, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Tanya Little told NPR in a statement. And no arrests were made.
In Portland, Ore., demonstrators rallied and lined the streets outside of a hospital on Saturday afternoon, where immigration enforcement agents bring detainees who are injured during an arrest, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.
A man and woman were shot and injured by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Thursday in the city. DHS said the shooting happened during a targeted vehicle stop and identified the driver as Luis David Nino-Moncada, and the passenger as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both from Venezuela. As was the case in their assertion about Good's fatal shooting, Homeland Security officials claimed the federal agent acted in self-defense after Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras "weaponized their vehicle."
Copyright 2026 NPR
By Felix Contreras, Isabella Gomez Sarmiento | NPR
Published January 11, 2026 6:10 AM
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Topline:
Bob Weir, the guitarist and songwriter who was a founding member of the popular and massively influential American rock band the Grateful Dead, has died.
Details: According to a statement from his family posted on his website and social media pages, Weir died from underlying lung issues after recently beating cancer. He was 78.
Read on... to revisit the life of Weir.
Bob Weir, the guitarist and songwriter who was a founding member of the popular and massively influential American rock band the Grateful Dead, has died. According to a statement from his family posted on his website and social media pages, Weir died from underlying lung issues after recently beating cancer. He was 78.
A member of the Dead for its first three decades, and a keeper of the flame of the band's legacy for three more, Weir helped to write a new chapter of American popular music that influenced countless other musicians and brought together an enormous and loyal audience. The Grateful Dead's touring, bootlegging and merchandising set an example that helped initiate the jam-band scene. Its concerts created a community that brought together generations of followers.
Known to fans as "Bobby," he was born in San Francisco as Robert Hall Parber, but was given up for adoption and raised by Frederick and Eleanor Weir. In 1964, when he was still a teenager, Weir joined guitarist Jerry Garcia in a folk music band, Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Band. In May of 1965 Weir and Garcia were joined by bassist Phil Lesh, keyboard player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and drummer Bill Kreutzmann to form an electric, blues-based rock and roll band that was briefly named The Warlocks. After discovering that there was another band using that name, Jerry Garcia found a phrase that caught his eye in a dictionary and in December of that year they became the Grateful Dead, launching a 30-year run over which time they grew into a cultural institution.
Weir was a singular rhythm guitarist who rarely played solos, choosing instead to create his own particular style of chording and strumming that gracefully supported Garcia's distinctive guitar explorations especially during the extended jams which were the heart of the band's popularity.
Lyrics were largely a product of a communal effort between Weir and Garcia, as well as lyricists John Perry Barlow, Robert Hunter, that often blurred the lines between who wrote what. The opening lines to "Cassidy," which first appeared on Weir's 1972 solo album Ace and was played by the Dead on live recordings including the 1981 double album Reckoning, reflect the combination of metaphor, rhyme and storytelling set to memorable melodies that the band's audiences could memorize, analyze and sing along to:
I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream Ah, child of countless trees Ah, child of boundless seas What you are, what you're meant to be Speaks his name, though you were born to me Born to me, Cassidy
Weir's emotive singing, on "Cassidy" and other songs like "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and the band's unofficial theme, "Truckin', " often included whoops and yells, in contrast to Garcia's calm and steady approach. His occasional tendency to forget lyrics was usually greeted by thunderous applause from fans.
After Garcia's death in 1995, at age 53, the surviving members of the band carried on in various forms and arrangements, the longest running of which was Weir's Dead & Company, which also featured Grateful Dead drummers Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Weir and the band concluded their "final tour" in July of 2023, but then returned to the stage for two extended residencies at the Sphere in Las Vegas, in 2024 and 2025.
A self-described "compulsive music maker," in 2018 Weir formed yet another band to mine the depths of the Grateful Dead catalog. It was a stripped-down guitar, acoustic bass and drums outfit that he called Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. Its members included renowned bassist and producer Don Was.In October of 2022, Weir & Wolf Bros worked with a classical music arranger to present yet another iteration of the Dead's catalog, notable for never being played the same way twice, with a group that largely only plays what's written on the paper in front of them, the 80-piece National Symphony Orchestra.
In a 2022 interview with NPR, Weir explained the reason for that collaboration, and in doing so, seemed to offer a possible explanation for why the band's music stayed so popular for so long: "These songs are … living critters and they're visitors from another world — another dimension or whatever you want to call it — that come through the artists to visit this world, have a look around, tell their stories. I don't know exactly how that works, but I do know that it's real."
After Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Weir kept the legacy of the Grateful Dead alive, touring with bands that came to include generations of musicians influenced by the group. Here, Weir performs with The Dead at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2009.
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Weir's work to shepherd and sustain the Dead's legacy was rewarded by ever younger generations of Deadheads, the band's loyal following, who attended tour after tour, often following the band from city to city as their parents and grandparents did during in the 1960's, '70s, '80s and '90s.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in March 2025, Weir shared his thoughts on his legacy, as well as on death and dying, that had a hint of the Eastern philosophies that were popular when the Grateful Dead emerged from the peace and love hippie movement of San Francisco. "I'll say this: I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as a reward for a life well-lived," he said.
