Lukas Nelson ripping the Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Grey” just feels right.
Despite being the son of the great Willie Nelson, Lukas is one of the most underrated artists in the country music genre. His songwriting and vocals can stand up against the best, and it was last summer when Lukas Nelson released his first, solo album, American Romance. On it, the son of the Red-Headed Stranger carved out his own lane, and provided a handful of hit songs that really showcased his ability to stand alone and separate from his previous backing band, Promise of the Real.
Now, in 2026, he continues to tour, showcase his abilities, and share his music with his fans. When Lukas isn’t picking and playing one of his own songs, he and his band are borrowing from the catalogue of the Grateful Dead for some covers that end up being highlights of his set lists.
He opened up one of his recent appearances with “Althea,” which for my money is the best Dead song there is. And more frequently, he’s queued up the track that brought the most commercial success to the band that was once led by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir: “Touch of Grey.”
As you’ll see in this video, he’s very comfortable playing one of the Dead’s biggest hits, and even managed to make it his own:
Yeah I could listen to that all day long.
Fans of Nelson’s agreed, and complimented the artist’s abilities while also commending him for choosing to cover a Grateful Dead song:
“Lukas could sing a phone book.”
“What a great cover.”
“Lukas Nelson never dissapoints.”
“Incredible song and Lukas rocked it.”
“Lukas does a spectacular job covering the Dead… keep it up.”
Speaking of keeping it up… what if Lukas Nelson did more than just cover the Grateful Dead? What if he helped to make sure that the music never stopped?
For decades, the surviving members of the Grateful Dead have continued to play together for the sake of all the Dead Heads out there. After the passing of frontman and music legend, Bob Weir, earlier this year, the only surviving members of the band are Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart.
The most recent version of that band was called Dead & Company. That company part of the name refers to the other artists that help fill out the rest of the band, including the uberly talented and underrated John Mayer. And though it’s sad that there aren’t many original members of the band left, it’s cool to think that the band Dead Heads follow around religiously has existed in some form or fashion since the mid 1960’s.
For reference, it’s the equivalent of if the surviving members of The Beatles were still touring together.
But like I said, though the official Grateful Dead band broke up shortly after frontman Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, other versions of the band have kept the spirit of the Grateful Dead alive (confusing, I know). And the only two artists that the surviving members have trusted to step into long-term roles that honor Garcia – not replace – is John Mayer and Sturgill Simpson.
Mayer has historically played with the version of the band called Dead & Company, but Simpson has also subbed in on plenty of occasions. And now without Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead – if it is to continue – now needs two different frontmen to step up.
Which poses an interesting question… could John Mayer, Sturgill Simpson and Lukas Nelson (and maybe even Billy Strings) be trusted to keep the Grateful Dead music going? If anything, this video proves that Lukas Nelson can hold his own, and John Mayer and Johnny Blue Skies have certainly already proved they are worthy.
It’d be fine by me… so I guess it would just be up to the Dead Heads.
