The surviving members of The Grateful Dead have decided to rename themselves as, simply, The Dead, when they tour later this year. The name change is in honour of band founder Jerry Garcia who died in 1995. In a statement the band said: "With the greatest possible respect to our collective history, we have decided to keep the name Grateful Dead retired in honour of Jerry's memory, and call ourselves The Dead."
The band played their first gig since Garcia’s death last year using the name The Other Ones. The new abbreviated name is the nickname many fans already knew the band by anyway.