The 30 Best Grateful Dead Songs, from Workingman's Dead to In the Dark

What is the Grateful Dead's most famous song?

"Truckin'" is the Grateful Dead's most famous song, a 1970 road song about life on tour. "Touch of Grey" was their biggest chart hit and only top ten single, reaching number nine in 1987, and "Ripple", "Sugar Magnolia", "Friend of the Devil" and "Casey Jones" are fan favorites.

The Grateful Dead's essential songs

1. "Truckin'", 1970: a shuffling road song about the band's adventures on tour.
2. "Ripple", 1970: a gentle, hymn-like folk song and a favorite for weddings and memorials.
3. "Sugar Magnolia", 1970: Bob Weir's joyful love song, a concert closer for decades.
4. "Friend of the Devil", 1970: a bluegrass-flavored outlaw tale.
5. "Touch of Grey", 1987: an upbeat song about getting older, their only top ten hit.
6. "Casey Jones", 1970: a train song from Workingman's Dead.
7. "Uncle John's Band", 1970: a folk song with intricate harmonies.
8. "Scarlet Begonias", 1974: a breezy, danceable song often paired with "Fire on the Mountain".
9. "Box of Rain", 1970: Phil Lesh's tender song, written as his father was dying.
10. "Brokedown Palace", 1970: a farewell song often played to close shows.

Songs from the 60s

11. "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)", 1967: the upbeat opener of their debut album.
12. "Dark Star", 1968: the song they stretched into long improvisations, heard at its peak on Live/Dead.
13. "St. Stephen", 1969: a psychedelic favorite from Aoxomoxoa.
14. "China Cat Sunflower", 1969: a playful song usually paired live with "I Know You Rider".

Songs from Workingman's Dead and American Beauty (1970)

In 1970 the band turned from long psychedelic jams to tight, harmony-rich songs inspired by country and folk, releasing two of their most loved albums in the same year.

15. "Black Peter", 1970: a slow, mournful blues from Workingman's Dead.
16. "Cumberland Blues", 1970: a fast, bluegrass-style song about miners.
17. "Attics of My Life", 1970: a delicate harmony song from American Beauty.
18. "Candyman", 1970: a slow, swaggering American Beauty song.

Songs from the 70s

19. "Bertha", 1971: a rollicking concert opener from their 1971 live album.
20. "Playing in the Band", 1971: a Bob Weir song that became a launching pad for jams.
21. "Jack Straw", 1972: a story song from Europe '72.
22. "Tennessee Jed", 1972: a laid-back, country-flavored Europe '72 favorite.
23. "Eyes of the World", 1973: a jazzy, uplifting song from Wake of the Flood.
24. "Stella Blue", 1973: one of Jerry Garcia's most moving ballads.
25. "U.S. Blues", 1974: a playful rocker from From the Mars Hotel.
26. "Franklin's Tower", 1975: an endlessly danceable song from Blues for Allah.
27. "Terrapin Station", 1977: an ambitious, multi-part suite.
28. "Estimated Prophet", 1977: a Bob Weir song in an unusual seven-beat rhythm.
29. "Fire on the Mountain", 1978: a hypnotic groove from Shakedown Street.
30. "Shakedown Street", 1978: a funky, disco-tinged title track.

Who were the Grateful Dead?

The Grateful Dead formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, with Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Bob Weir on rhythm guitar, Phil Lesh on bass, Bill Kreutzmann on drums and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on keyboards and harmonica; drummer Mickey Hart joined in 1967. Most of Garcia's songs had lyrics by the poet Robert Hunter, and Weir often wrote with John Perry Barlow. They played the music of the 1960s San Francisco scene but drew on blues, bluegrass, country, jazz and folk, and they became famous for never playing the same show twice.

The stories behind Truckin' and Ripple

"Truckin'" sums up the band's first five years on the road, including their 1970 drug bust in New Orleans, and its loose, shuffling groove made it the anthem of every Deadhead road trip. "Ripple" came from a remarkable day of writing: Robert Hunter wrote the words to "Ripple", "Brokedown Palace" and "To Lay Me Down" in a single afternoon in London in 1970. Garcia set "Ripple" to a simple, gentle melody, and it remains the song fans reach for at weddings, funerals and every moment in between.

Deadheads and the live shows

The Grateful Dead's fans, the Deadheads, followed the band from city to city, and the band allowed them to record concerts in a special tapers' section. Those tapes spread the music around the world, and many fans consider the live recordings, not the studio albums, the real Grateful Dead. They played more than 2,000 concerts, and archival releases of shows like Cornell University on May 8, 1977, are still treasured today.

The story behind Touch of Grey

"Touch of Grey" had been a concert song for years before the band recorded it for In the Dark in 1987. Its upbeat sound and its theme of getting older but surviving came at the right moment: Garcia had recently recovered from a diabetic coma, and the song's video, starring life-size skeleton puppets of the band, played constantly on MTV. It reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and brought a huge wave of new young fans to their shows.

Jerry Garcia and what came after

Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995, at the age of 53, and the Grateful Dead ended with him. The surviving members kept the music alive in groups like The Other Ones, Furthur and Dead and Company, which played its final tour in 2023 and a long residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Grateful Dead albums to start with

• Workingman's Dead (1970): country-folk songs with "Uncle John's Band" and "Casey Jones".
• American Beauty (1970): their most beautiful album, with "Ripple", "Box of Rain" and "Truckin'".
• Europe '72 (1972): a classic live album.
• Blues for Allah (1975): jazzier, with "Franklin's Tower".
• In the Dark (1987): the comeback, with "Touch of Grey".

Grateful Dead songs for a wedding

"Ripple" is the classic choice for a ceremony, "Sugar Magnolia" and "Scarlet Begonias" fill the dance floor, and "Attics of My Life" and "To Lay Me Down" are gentle first dance options. For more, see our rock wedding songs and old love songs.

Grateful Dead songs for a memorial

"Ripple", "Brokedown Palace", "Box of Rain" and "Stella Blue" are among the most played songs at memorials and celebrations of life for Deadheads, often sung together by everyone in the room. For more, see our celebration of life songs.

Grateful Dead songs for a road trip

"Truckin'", "Casey Jones", "Jack Straw" and "Tennessee Jed" were made for the open road and long summer drives, and "Eyes of the World" and "Franklin's Tower" keep the miles rolling. For more, see our road trip songs and our Sublime songs, whose "Scarlet Begonias" cover introduced the song to a new generation.

A song as unique as they are

The Grateful Dead never played the same song the same way twice. A personalized song can be just as unique for someone you love: their name, your shared adventures and the moments only you two remember. It makes a great birthday, anniversary or Father's Day gift for a Deadhead.

How to create a personalized song

1. Choose a style from 14 genres: rock, folk, country and more.
2. Add their name.
3. Share three memories or details about them.
4. Review the lyrics and edit or regenerate them for free before any music is made.
5. Listen to 4 free 45-second previews and choose your favorite.

The full 3 to 4 minute song costs $35.99, or $40.99 for Premium with four full versions and editable lyrics. You get the MP3, a gift page and the lyrics as a PDF.

Give them a song of their own: create a song and hear four previews for free.