Dead and Company honor Bill Walton at Sphere

Later NBA star and consummate Deadhead Bill Walton received a special tribute during Dead and Company’s performance at Sphere in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 30.

The moment came during Dead and Co.’s performance of “Fire on the Mountain,” with the Sphere’s immersive screen already showing a virtual scrapbook of archived Grateful Dead memories. The crowd then erupted in cheers as a photo of Walton in a tie-dye Dead shirt appeared on the screen.

As Dead and Co. played “Fire on the Mountain,” a photo montage followed showing Walton with band members over the years, enjoying shows from the crowd, and in his costume at Dead Co.’s New Year’s Eve shows as Father Time (an homage to the character Bill Graham dressed up as for the same occasion).

Walton died on Monday, May 27, at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer. Along with all the memories pouring in from the basketball world, several surviving members of the Grateful Dead – Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann – issued heartfelt statements. “Thank you for the wonderful friendship, the years of colorful commentary – and the existence in the Hall of Fame that you wore like spotlights,” Weir wrote.

John Mayer also paid tribute to Walton, thanking him for helping him find his place in the Grateful Dead universe after joining Dead and Company. “The road to acceptance is steep in the Grateful Dead universe and Bill has helped me tremendously with his kindness, encouragement and friendship to climb those stairs,” Mayer wrote.

Walton’s devotion to the Dead was legendary. He reportedly saw over 850 shows over the course of his life (and even helped sort through recyclables), wore tie-dye shirts to announce basketball games, and DJed on the band’s SiriusXM channel. In 2021, he was inducted into the Dead’s Hall of Honor, which the two-time NBA (and NCAA) champion, league and Finals MVP, and Hall of Fame member later said was the most important honor he had ever received.