The wild moment John Belushi crashed the Grateful Dead’s show
They’re rightly regarded as one of the most incendiary live bands of all time, yet sometimes, the Grateful Dead were shown up. Usually, this somewhat embarrassing moment of one-upmanship was provided by a stand-out performer. However, on one occasion, the group were left red-faced by the cartwheeling presence of the maniacally funny SNL icon John Belushi.
It’s not uncommon for the Grateful Dead to welcome special guests during their iconic jam sessions — Janis Joplin and the Allman Brothers are two notable musicians who’ve shared the stage with them. However, even the most dedicated Deadheads would have been shocked to see the star of Blues Brothers take the stage and deliver a performance that rivalled the Dead’s typically mesmerising show. What made it even more surprising? He hadn’t even been invited.
Some rock stars are synonymous with outrageous behaviour and drug-fuelled antics, and then, at the top of the television pile, there is comedian and former Saturday Night Live favourite John Belushi. Two worlds collided when he and notorious stoners the Grateful Dead got together in 1980, and all hell broke loose.
After Belushi was refused the chance to sit in on one of the Dead’s shows, the comedian decided to crash the party anyway. He invaded the stage at the Capitol Theatre, New York, to make for a legendary evening for all who were lucky enough to be in attendance. Though Belushi’s musical exploits were minimal, the anecdotal ammo it would offer you in your local meant going to this show has earned some fans Grateful Dead stripes.
Anyone who is anyone in the party scene during the 1970s would have, at some point in time, raged with the Blues Brother Belushi. The comedian had made his name as the anarchic face of network television with his stints at SNL and had long aligned himself with the rock and roll world — as well as the lifestyle that went with it, often thought of as one of the hell-raising set of the decade.
By 1980, the Grateful Dead had spent the best part of the previous two decades stoned and tripping while still managing to make the most challenging and creative music the world has ever seen. As seasoned pros, the band often found themselves hanging around with the younger generation, looking to catch a glimpse of the master partiers at work. Belushi and the band connected instantly on a different level.
The comedian was known for his musical performances and certainly had chops, proving in Blues Brothers his power on stage could outweigh any technical deficiencies. But that didn’t convince Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann that he was good enough to take the stage with the rest of the band for paying customers.
According to Kreutzmann’s book, Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreaming, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, Belushi was undeterred by the rejection and instead performed a perfect “comedic ambush” and rallied the audience around him with one swift set of cartwheels.
Kreutzmann continued: “[Belushi] had on a [sports] coat with small American flags stuffed into both of his breast pockets, and he landed his last cartwheel just in time to grab a microphone and join in on the chorus.” For some groups, this intrusion could have not only spelt disaster for the song but could have derailed the entire performance. But the Dead are not like other bands.
Instead of recoiling in horror, the group barely missed a beat, and instead of kicking Belushi off the stage, they enveloped him with their musical prowess and delivered a show few would ever forget: “The audience and everyone in the band—except for Phil—ate it up. It couldn’t have been rehearsed better. Belushi had impeccable comedic timing, musicality, balls, the works. And apparently, he didn’t take no for an answer.”
