Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia has childhood street named for him in San Francisco
By JANIE HAR
A few hundred people gathered Friday to name a tiny San Francisco street after legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia on what would have been his 83rd birthday and as part of a citywide celebration to mark the band's 60th anniversary.
Harrington Street, which is one block long, will also be called 'Jerry Garcia Street." He died in 1995, but the band's popularity has only grown as younger generations discover the Dead's improvisational music, which blended rock, blues, folk and other styles.
Garcia spent part of his childhood in a modest home in the city's diverse Excelsior neighborhood. He lived with his grandparents after the death of his father, Jose Ramon 'Joe' Garcia.
'I hope that you all get a chance to enjoy the music, dance, hug, smile,' said daughter Trixie Garcia, growing emotional during her brief remarks. 'Cherish what's valuable, what's significant in life.'
Tens of thousands of fans are in San Francisco to commemorate the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary with concerts and other activities throughout the city.
The latest iteration of the band, Dead & Company, with original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, will play Golden Gate Park's Polo Field for three days starting Friday. An estimated 60,000 attendees are expected each day.
Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead played often and for free in their early years while living in a cheap Victorian home in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The band later became a significant part of 1967's Summer of Love, and the Grateful Dead has become synonymous with San Francisco and its bohemian counterculture.
On Friday, fans in rainbow tie-dye and Grateful Dead T-shirts whooped and cheered as the sign was unveiled. Nonfans with shopping bags and some using walking canes maneuvered around the crowd on what was for them just another foggy day in the working-class neighborhood.
Afterward, devotees peeled off to pose for photos in front of Garcia's childhood home.
Jared Yankee, 23, got the crowd to join him in singing "Happy Birthday." Yankee said he flew in from Rhode Island for the shows. He got into the music about a decade ago.
'It's a human thing,' he said of his impromptu singing. 'I figure everyone knows the words to 'Happy Birthday.'"
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia has childhood street named for him in San Francisco
Trixie Garcia, daughter of musician Jerry Garcia, speaks during a ceremony to unveil the naming of Jerry Garcia Street, in honor of the Grateful Dead musician, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez) By JANIE HAR A few hundred people gathered Friday to name a tiny San Francisco street after legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia on what would have been his 83rd birthday and as part of a citywide celebration to mark the band's 60th anniversary. Harrington Street, which is one block long, will also be called 'Jerry Garcia Street." He died in 1995, but the band's popularity has only grown as younger generations discover the Dead's improvisational music, which blended rock, blues, folk and other styles. Garcia spent part of his childhood in a modest home in the city's diverse Excelsior neighborhood. He lived with his grandparents after the death of his father, Jose Ramon 'Joe' Garcia. 'I hope that you all get a chance to enjoy the music, dance, hug, smile,' said daughter Trixie Garcia, growing emotional during her brief remarks. 'Cherish what's valuable, what's significant in life.' Tens of thousands of fans are in San Francisco to commemorate the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary with concerts and other activities throughout the city. The latest iteration of the band, Dead & Company, with original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, will play Golden Gate Park's Polo Field for three days starting Friday. An estimated 60,000 attendees are expected each day. Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead played often and for free in their early years while living in a cheap Victorian home in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The band later became a significant part of 1967's Summer of Love, and the Grateful Dead has become synonymous with San Francisco and its bohemian counterculture. On Friday, fans in rainbow tie-dye and Grateful Dead T-shirts whooped and cheered as the sign was unveiled. Nonfans with shopping bags and some using walking canes maneuvered around the crowd on what was for them just another foggy day in the working-class neighborhood. Afterward, devotees peeled off to pose for photos in front of Garcia's childhood home. Jared Yankee, 23, got the crowd to join him in singing "Happy Birthday." Yankee said he flew in from Rhode Island for the shows. He got into the music about a decade ago. 'It's a human thing,' he said of his impromptu singing. 'I figure everyone knows the words to 'Happy Birthday.'" © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
5 days ago
- Japan Today
Fans toast Grateful Dead's 60th with concerts at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
By JANIE HAR Fans of the Grateful Dead are pouring into San Francisco for three days of concerts and festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the scruffy jam band that came to embody a city where people wore flowers in their hair and made love, not war. Dead & Company, featuring original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, will play Golden Gate Park's Polo Field starting Friday with an estimated 60,000 attendees each day. The last time the band played that part of the park was in 1991 — a free show following the death of concert promoter and longtime Deadhead Bill Graham. Certainly, times have changed. A general admissions ticket for all three days is $635 — a shock for many longtime fans who remember when a joint cost more than a Dead concert ticket. But Deadhead David Aberdeen is thrilled anyway. 'This is the spiritual home of the Grateful Dead,' said Aberdeen, who works at Amoeba Music in the bohemian, flower-powered Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. 'It seems very right to me that they celebrate it in this way.' Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead is synonymous with San Francisco and its counterculture. Members lived in a dirt-cheap Victorian in the Haight and later became a significant part of 1967's Summer of Love. That summer eventually soured into bad acid trips and police raids, and prompted the band's move to Marin County on the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge. But new Deadheads kept cropping up — even after iconic guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia 's 1995 death — aided by cover bands and offshoots like Dead & Company. 'There are 18-year-olds who were obviously not even a twinkle in somebody's eyes when Jerry died, and these 18-year-olds get the values of Deadheads,' said former Grateful Dead publicist and author Dennis McNally. Deadheads can reel off why and how, and the moment they fell in love with the music. Fans love that no two shows are the same; the band plays different songs each time. They also embrace the community that comes with a Dead show. Sunshine Powers didn't have friends until age 13, when she stepped off a city bus and into the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. 'I, all of a sudden, felt like I fit in. Or like I didn't have to fit in,' says Powers, now 45 and the owner of tie-dye emporium Love on Haight. 'I don't know which one it was, but I know it was like, OK." Similarly, her friend Taylor Swope, 47, survived a tough freshman year at a new school with the help of a Grateful Dead mixtape. The owner of the Little Hippie gift shop is driving from Brooklyn, New York, to sell merchandise, reconnect with friends and see the shows. 'The sense of, 'I found my people, I didn't fit in anywhere else and then I found this, and I felt at home.' So that's a big part of it,' she said of the allure. Sometimes, becoming a Deadhead is a process. Thor Cromer, 60, had attended several Dead shows, but was ambivalent about the hippies. That changed on March 15, 1990, in Landover, Maryland. 'That show, whatever it was, whatever magic hit,' he said, 'it was injected right into my brain.' Cromer, who worked for the U.S. Senate then, eventually took time off to follow the band on tour and saw an estimated 400 shows from spring 1990 until Garcia's death. Cromer now works in technology and is flying in from Boston to join scores of fellow 'rail riders' who dance in the rows closest to the stage. Aberdeen, 62, saw his first Dead show in 1984. As the only person in his college group with a driver's license, he was tapped to drive a crowded VW Bug from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, to Syracuse, New York. 'I thought it was pretty weird,' he said. 'But I liked it.' He fell in love the following summer, when the Dead played a venue near his college. Aberdeen remembers rain pouring down in the middle of the show and a giant rainbow appearing over the band when they returned for their second act. They played 'Comes a Time,' a rarely played Garcia ballad. 'There is a lot of excitement, and there will be a lot of people here,' Aberdeen said. 'Who knows when we'll have an opportunity to get together like this again?' Fans were able to see Dead & Company in Las Vegas earlier this year, but no new dates have been announced. Guitarist Bob Weir is 77, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are 81 and 79, respectively. Besides Garcia, founding members Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan on keyboards died in 1973 and bassist Phil Lesh died last year at age 84. Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is not a Deadhead but counts 'Sugar Magnolia' as his favorite Dead song, is overjoyed at the economic boost as San Francisco recovers from pandemic-related hits to its tech and tourism sectors. 'They are the reason why so many people know and love San Francisco,' he said. The weekend features parties, shows and celebrations throughout the city. Grahame Lesh & Friends will perform three nights starting Thursday. Lesh is the son of Phil Lesh. On Friday, which would have been Garcia's 83rd birthday, officials will rename a street after the San Francisco native. On Saturday, visitors can celebrate the city's annual Jerry Day at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater located in a park near Garcia's childhood home. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
28-07-2025
- Japan Today
'Lilo & Stitch' stars reflect on film's success and are eager for a sequel
Sydney Agudong, from left, Maia Kealoha, and Tia Carrere pose for a portrait to promote "Lilo & Stitch" during Comic-Con International on Friday, July 25, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) By LIAM McEWAN A few things have changed for the stars of 'Lilo & Stitch' since the movie became the breakout hit of 2025. For 8-year-old star Maia Kealoha, it's meant no more Doritos – she's learned she has to keep her teeth clean, especially when doing interviews. Kealoha, Sydney Agudong and Tia Carrere have been doing lots of those, taking a victory lap with 'Lilo & Stitch' at Comic-Con 2025 and promoting the film's release for digital purchase. Another change? Kealoha says with a big grin that she's been recognized at stores 'like five thousand times.' Agudong says the movie 'an ode to Hawaii' and it's been really cool to 'see how much the world has taken to it and how much impact 'Lilo & Stitch' really has had as just this lifelong and timeless story.' She says she's been fortunate to celebrate the film's success with family and friends and despite premieres and whirlwind interviews, she still gets to 'go to the beach and have fun all over again and I'm just the same.' Kealoha and Agudong are the breakout stars of the film, which is the biggest blockbuster of 2025, earning more than $1 billion. 'Our little blue friend Stitch is now a billionaire and we couldn't be more excited about it,' Carrere says excitedly. As for a sequel, Agudong says the trio are feeling 'hanna hou,' a Hawaiian term for repeating or doing something again. 'Though, of course, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any such project in this universe or the next. Sorry!' Carrere cheerfully noted. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
