Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter dead at 78
Poet and lyricist Robert Hunter, best known for penning the words for dozens of classic Grateful Dead songs, passed away Monday at age 78. No cause of death has been given at press time.
Hunter was born Robert Burns on June 23, 1941 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and he performed in various bluegrass bands in the early ‘60s with his teenhood friend Jerry Garcia, playing mandolin and upright bass. However, Hunter saw himself as more of a writer than a musician, and Garcia eventually went on to form the Warlocks, later known as the Grateful Dead, in 1965. Meanwhile, Hunter served as a volunteer research test subject, along with Ken Kesey, for psychedelic chemicals at Stanford University — an experience that he later said greatly expanded his creativity.
Hunter relocated for a while to Arizona, where he penned his first lyrics under the influence of LSD; after mailing his writings to Garcia, Garcia replied asking Hunter to be the Dead’s lyricist. The results were early collaborations like "China Cat Sunflower"/"The Eleven,” “St. Stephen,” and “Alligator.”
Eventually Hunter moved back to the Bay Area and formed a songwriting partnership with Garcia and the Dead that lasted until Garcia’s death in 1995. Some of his iconic compositions included “Dark Star,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” “Ripple,” “Truckin’,” “Friend of the Devil,” “Black Muddy River,” “Eyes of the World,” “Touch of Grey,” “Scarlet Begonias,” and “Franklin’s Tower.”
Hunter even came to be considered an official non-performing Grateful dead bandmate — so much so that when the Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, he was included as an actual band member, the only time such an honor has been given by the Rock Hall.
After Garcia’s death, Hunter continued to write songs with Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby, Jim Lauderdale, New Riders of the Purple Sage, the String Cheese Incident, the Dead’s Mickey Hart, and, most notably, Bob Dylan. During his career, he also founded a record label with Relix magazine founder Les Kippel and recorded several solo albums. In recent years, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association and was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.
“It is with great sadness we confirm our beloved Robert passed away yesterday night,” read a family statement that ran in Rolling Stone Tuesday morning. He died peacefully at home in his bed, surrounded by love. His wife Maureen was by his side holding his hand. For his fans that have loved and supported him all these years, take comfort in knowing that his words are all around us, and in that way his is never truly gone. In this time of grief please celebrate him the way you all know how, by being together and listening to the music. Let there be songs to fill the air.”
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