Bill Walton honored at Dead & Company Sphere appearance

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Dead & Company, currently based at Sphere and an offshoot band of the Grateful Dead, paid tribute to one of the original band’s most famous fans on Thursday.

Basketball Hall of Fame member, basketball icon and legendary sportscaster Bill Walton received a tribute from the band at their May 30 show at the legendary Sphere in Las Vegas. Dead & Company honored Walton by displaying his jersey number 32 on their guitars during Thursday night’s show.

Walton, who died Monday in San Diego County after a battle with cancer, described himself in his 2016 autobiography as a “proud Dead Head,” the band’s affectionate nickname for its fans. He attended more than 869 Grateful Dead concerts. The band’s drummer, Mickey Hart, called Walton his best friend.

“He was an amazing human being, unique, irreplaceable, generous, loving,” Hart told the Associated Press. “He called himself the luckiest man in the world, but we were the lucky ones – to know him.” His fan base was well known, Walton often wore tie-dye clothing during basketball game broadcasts and was spotted at Grateful Dead shows.

Dead & Company consists of former Grateful Dead band members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as guitarist and pop star John Mayer. They were announced as the new resident band at the Sphere via a social media post in January. They followed U2, who opened the Las Vegas landmark in September and made their last appearance on the Sphere stage in March. The band began their residency on May 16 and have performances scheduled at the Sphere through August 10.

On September 27, 2018, construction crews began building Sphere. The venue is said to have cost $2.3 billion to build. On the outside of Sphere are approximately 1.2 million LED pucks, spaced 20 centimeters apart. Each of these pucks, according to Sphere Entertainment officials, can display 256 million colors. Together they form the “Exosphere.” As the largest screen in the world, the Exosphere quickly became an eye-catcher in the skyline of the entertainment capital of the world.

Inside, Sphere is a venue that can accommodate up to 20,000 people and features a 15,000 square-foot LED display that surrounds the audience. The 16K x 16K display is the highest resolution screen in the world. In addition, Sphere features a state-of-the-art sound system and 4D technologies that immerse visitors in the content they are watching.