09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Grateful Dead legend reunites with Sammy Hagar in Las Vegas
Two Bay Area rock icons reunited for a surprise performance in Nevada this week.
Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir joined former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar during a Las Vegas concert on Wednesday, May 7. The two performed the 1973 song 'Bad Motor Scooter,' which Hagar performed in his pre-Van Halen days with his former band, Montrose.
The Salinas-born singer then took to social media to thank Weir for his time.
'Bob is fearless. He's always willing to take chances with music of any kind,' Hagar wrote in an Instagram post shared on Thursday, May 8. 'This was a blast.'
The post was accompanied by videos and photos of the two rockers rehearsing backstage and then performing together in front of the crowd.
It ends with a clip of them backstage after the show, where Hagar says, 'I hope he makes it to rehearsal tomorrow,' referring to Weir who is right beside him laughing.
The Red Rocker also shared a separate post containing two photos of them onstage, explaining in the caption that 'Bad Motor Scooter' was the first song he ever wrote.
Hagar is currently wrapping up his Best of All Worlds residency at the Park MGM, which began on April 30 and is set to run through May 17. Meanwhile, Weir was in the desert city to resume his Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company's residency at the Sphere, which is scheduled to conclude on the same day as Hagar's stint.
Weir and Hagar previously performed together in 2023 for the Acoustic-4-A-Cure benefit concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco alongside guests such as folk singer and longtime San Mateo County resident Joan Baez, blues guitarist Taj Mahal, Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and singer-songwriter Chirs Isaak.
The two were photographed together backstage at the Pollstar Awards, hosted at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Weir was in attendance with his Dead & Company bandmate John Mayer to accept the award for residency of the year for their stint at the Sphere, while Nicks was inducted into Pollstar's Live Hall of Fame.
