Dead & Company cancel their New York show after a band member’s father suffers a medical emergency

Dead & Company was scheduled to perform live in New York’s Saratoga Springs. However, the band cancelled their show at the last minute when Joh Mayer’s father suffered a medical emergency. Apologising to his fans, John Mayer took to Instagram to reveal the reason behind the cancellation. Mayer wrote that his father suffered a medical emergency on the morning of the scheduled performance. He was transferred to the ER, and he received excellent care there. Stating that his father is stable, Mayer wrote that he would need to undergo some medical procedures. As such, Mayer would have to stay in New York City and wouldn’t be able to perform in the show.

Dead & Company is an offshoot of the band the Grateful Dead. The band consists of John Mayer, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, and Bill Kreutzmann. Mayer is the 44-year-old guitarist of the band, while his father, Richard Mayer, is 94.

The band was scheduled to play at the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre. However, after this cancellation, their next performance is scheduled at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia.


In February 2021, Mayer talked about his father with his friend Andy Cohen. Mayer said that his father, a retired principal of a high school, was a piano player who played at the Rotary club. While Mayer’s father was a written music player, Mayer himself is an improv musician.

Speaking about his father’s character traits, Mayer revealed that his father is the most upstanding man he’s met. His father never made promises that he couldn’t fulfil. Mayer also added that his father always finished the tasks he undertook, all the while calling himself a mess of incomplete thoughts.

In 2017, John Mayer founded The Richard Mayer Scholarship Fund in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his dad worked. The fund provides financial aid to selected students who plan on becoming educational administrators or educators. Such students would receive USD 20,000 over four years of school.