Sturgill Simpson paid tribute to the Grateful Dead for the band’s upcoming Kennedy Center Honors , playing a twangy country cover of the band’s classic “Ripple.” Simpson performed the song in front of Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann, the Dead’s three surviving members. He was joined onstage by Don Was as well as the late Phil Lesh’s grandson Grahame to interpret the track off 1970’s American Beaut y.
Simpson’s grown more acquainted with the Dead’s music in recent years, particularly as he joined some of the band for the Dead Ahead Festival in Mexico at the beginning of 2024. He told Uncut magazine that learning Jerry Garcia’s guitar playing gave him renewed inspiration. “After I got home from those shows, all I could think about was playing guitar for 10 hours a day again,” he said.
“Jerry Garcia, I hate to say it, might have saved my life.” Trending Stories Republicans Cut Child Cancer Research From Funding Bill After Musk’s Meddling Elon Musk Wants to Pay for His Tax Cuts With Your Social Security and Medicare What the ‘I Slept With 100 Men in One Day’ Doc Gets Right About Sex Work Musk Kills Government Funding Deal, Demands Shutdown Until Trump Is Sworn In The Grateful Dead are one of four artists who were honored at the 47th Annual Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month, along with Bonnie Raitt, Francis Ford Coppola, and Arturo Sandoval. Queen Latifah will host the broadcast, which airs Sunday, Dec.
22, at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
