The Grateful Dead gave their last performance in a jam-packed concert on Sunday at Chicago's Soldier Field before an audience of 70,000 fans singing, dancing and mostly in tears.
Following the death of their lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia, who performed his last show in Chicago in 1995, the four surviving members had announced ending their run with three concerts, according to Reuters. The band's career spanned 50 years.
The Grateful Dead is known for their unique and eclectic style, fusing different elements in their performances as well as for their lengthy instrumental jams. The band emerged from the San Francisco Bay area to become one of the most influential and enduring bands of the period.
Known for their music that fuses folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz and psychedelia, the band has become a model for the musical formation of other bands like Phish and Blues Traveler to mention a few belonging to the "jam movement." The band's followers are known as "Deadheads" who are often garbed in colorful outfits.
Philly reported that President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the Grateful Dead by writing a message to the band ahead of their final concert in Chicago. The Grateful Dead played a show of support in Obama's 2008 campaign.
In his letter, the President wrote cheers to fifty years of Grateful Dead, an iconic American band that embodies the creativity, passion, and ability to bring people together that makes American music so great.
Meanwhile, during the "Fare Thee Well" concert, the Chicago Tribune reported that a man was critically injured in a fall inside Soldier Field. Authorities said that the 41-year-old man was sitting on a railing inside the stadium and fell at about 20 to 25 feet. The fall appeared accidental.
The man was then taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Early Monday morning, police reported that the man's condition was already stable.
