Of all the jam bands, the Grateful Dead have the biggest, strongest following. No offense to Phish or their fans. Devoted fans of the band have been known as “Deadheads” since the 1970s, when some fans took to following the group around on tour. There have been different lineups over the years. Jerry Garcia, the iconic face of the band, has been dead since 1995. Deadheads remain, though, and some of them are famous themselves. Here are some of the celebrity Deadheads out there. Eat some Cherry Garcia (from Deadheads Ben and Jerry) and enjoy.
Speaking of Phish, it feels fitting that the frontman of that jam band is a huge Grateful Dead fan. Anastasio and company are known for long concerts and extremely devoted fans. Once upon a time Anastasio himself was the one going to jamming concerts, having seen the Dead for the first time in 1980.
Walton is probably literally the biggest Deadhead, given that he’s a seven-foot basketball Hall of Famer. Always a bit of a counterculture figure, especially in the world of sports, Walton is unabashed about his love for the Dead. In fact, Walton claims to have gone to over 800 Dead shows in his lifetime.
Clinton may be a saxophone player, but apparently he likes a good jam band. The former President of the United States was considered “cool” in his time for a presidential candidate, and being a Deadhead probably played a role in that.
Speaking Clinton, his running mate Gore is also a fan of the Grateful Dead. Gore may not be known for his riveting personality, though he has made some funny cameos in comedies. It’s kind of hard to imagine him grooving at a Dead show. Also a fan of the Dead? Gore’s wife Tipper.
Mayer isn’t just a fan of the Grateful Dead. He’s as close to being a member of the band as you can get these days. Mayer is currently touring with the band Dead & Company. It’s a band that features three former members of the Dead (Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann) with three other musicians, including Mayer on guitar.
Arnett has been a fixture in comedy (and TV commercial voiceovers) for years at this point. After an iconic turn as Gob Bluth in “Arrested Development” he voiced Bojack Horseman on the hit Netflix show. He is also well-known as a fan of the Grateful Dead. We assume he’s also a fan of Reese’s, or at least getting paid to make ad for them.
The actor Adam Scott is quite vocal about his musical fandom. He and Scott Aukerman have had podcasts dedicated to U2, R.E.M., and Talking Heads. The two haven’t done a show yet on the Dead, but we bet Scott wouldn’t mind that. Although, given Aukerman’s experience making a podcast about trying to get into Phish, he may not be as enthused about that.
Groening has been a famous cartoonist and TV creator since before that was common. He’s the man behind “The Simpsons” and “Futurama.” Sure, many others have contributed to their success, but the Simpson family wouldn’t exist without Groening. The Dead have never shown up in Springfield, but Phish has.
Jackson has won an abundance of titles in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Sure, he had guys like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal, but the man known as the “Zen Master” also used a mental trick or two to try and keep his team motivated. Maybe that included introducing some Grateful Dead music to the likes of Scottie Pippen and Luc Longley.
Jobs was known to credit, at least in part, using LSD with his creativity and thought processes. Drug use and the Grateful Dead sometimes are viewed as going hand in hand, especially in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the heyday of Deadheads. Eventually, Jobs would become the billionaire founder of Apple, but before that he was just a guy listening to Jerry Garcia and company.
You might think that Martin only listens to lute music or the kind of stuff that exists in “Game of Thrones.” He is, after all, the man who writes the books that the hit HBO series was based on. Martin does not live an anachronistic life, apparently. Beneath that silly hat and bushy beard lies a true Deadhead.
As a writer, King is preoccupied with the macabre and the grisly. After from his books, though, he’s a guy who enjoys Boston Red Sox baseball and bands like the Grateful Dead. We all contain multitudes, even the modern master of horror fiction.
Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were The Blues Brothers, but Belushi’s musical interests extended beyond the blues. That was more Aykroyd’s thing anyway. In fact, one time The Blues Brothers even opened for the Dead, so it was apparently a mutual admiration society.
If you attended a Dead show back in the day, or perhaps even a Dead & Company show now, you might have seen Sevigny. The actress has been spotted at Dead shows in the past, and has talked about her fandom for the band. She is known for an actress who is willing to go to some out there places, but apparently she also likes to just chill and jam out with the Dead.
Back in 1985, a magazine made a crack while reviewing a Grateful Dead concert that a Black Flag fan would never be caught dead at such a show. Greg Ginn of Black Flag then wrote into the magazine to say that, in fact, Ginn, Rollins, and other members of the seminal punk band had in fact been at that very show. Yes, you might be an angry punk like Rollins, but you can still enjoy the Grateful Dead.
Cohen is known the face of Bravo and a pop culture mainstay. The world of drama and real housewives may not have a lot to do with a bunch of Deadheads jamming out in the field, but Cohen has his feet in both worlds. When he isn’t talking about what’s happening live, he may be seeing Dead & Company at a live show.
Apparently there’s something about being a baby boomer Democrat that makes you love the Grateful Dead. We already talked about Clinton and Gore, and there are even more Democrats of a certain age we could include on this list. We’ll just name check Pelosi given that she is the current speaker of the house.
Yes, Cronkite, the serious face of TV journalism for generations, was a Grateful Dead fan. Granted, he reportedly only ever went to a couple of concerts. However, he was also friends with the Dead’s Mickey Hart, which is more than most Deadheads can say.
Buffet’s fans are called Parrotheads, likely in a nod to Deadheads. The man behind “Margaritaville” is himself a Deadhead, though. In fact, he covered the Dead song “Scarlet Begonias” on an album in 2004.
Apparently quite a few early “Saturday Night Live” cast members were big fans of the Grateful Dead. Given that “SNL” was considered countercultural at the time, that makes sense. One of those fans is Newman, who was in the very first cast of “Saturday Night Live.” She’s talked about seeing them in interviews as well.
Chris Morgan is a sports and pop culture writer and the author of the books The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and The Ash Heap of History. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisXMorgan.
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