Rob Wasserman has passed away today, June 29, 2016.
The Grammy Award winning upright bass player who played with the Grateful Deads Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia, as well as Lou Reed, Neil Young, David Grisman, Pete Seeger, Elvis Costello, Stephen Perkins, and many others, lost his battle with cancer passed away after being hospitalized and moved into ICU earlier today…
(Ed Note: Deadheadland originally, and mistakenly, reported that Rob Wasserman had died of cancer, and we deeply regret not checking sources on this misinformation, and any grief caused to his family by our erroneous reporting.)
Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Rob Wasserman.
Bass player for Bob Weir in Bob & Rob (video in link), and the original RatDog Revue, as well as with Stephen Perkins in Banyan, one of my very favorite bands… and so many others*
Rob’s playing always deep, and fully felt… he was the music, you could see it in his face as he played. He held down the bottom, giving the other musicians a foundation to fly from… and when he soloed, he took us on a journey into his special bass space. It was a gift to all of us that witnessed it. We have lost an important member of our musical tribe.
♥ Rob ♥ thank you. Thoughts and love to his daughter Sara, his musical partner Bob Weir, and the rest of his family and friends.
*From Wikipedia:
Rob Wasserman is an American, Grammy Award winning upright bass player and NEA grant winning composer, who has played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di Franco, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Rickie Lee Jones, Mark Morris, Van Morrison, Aaron Neville, Lou Reed, Pete Seeger, Jules Shear, Studs Terkel, Bob Weir, Brian Wilson, Chris Whitley, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Perkins Banyan, Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and Ratdog
From Bob Weir on Facebook:
I’m devastated to pass along that Rob Wasserman lost his struggle today, and we have lost a beautiful friend and artist. I can still hear the sound of his bow playing those strings unamplified and pure. It’s one of the most glorious sounds I’ve ever heard, and the music and warmth he gave us will live on in the hearts of everyone he touched.
Earlier today, Bob Weir had posted the following…
If I knew the way, I would take you home. Love you Rob Wasserman… may the four winds blow you safely home.
Ripple – Bob Weir – Jackie Greene – Jonathan Wilson – Rob Wasserman – Wiltern – LA CA
