As the Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola are celebrated at the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honours and Meyer Sound reflects on its decades of collaboration. The Grateful Dead and Coppola have left indelible marks on culture, and their work with Meyer Sound has helped shape their artistic visions in ways that continue to resonate.
The Grateful Dead’s recognition at the Kennedy Center Honors and their selection as the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year are testaments to their six-decade legacy of musical exploration, community-building, and philanthropy.
Meyer Sound’s relationship with the Dead began in the early 1970s, when sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley first tapped audio pioneer John Meyer to create acoustic solutions for the band’s Wall of Sound. That gave rise to an enduring relationship between Meyer Sound, the band, and its production company, UltraSound, led by CEO Derek Featherstone, a longtime Grateful Dead collaborator and tour director/FOH mixer for Dead & Company. Over the decades, from the Grateful Dead to Dead & Company, Meyer Sound has remained a partner in advancing the band’s live sound, refining technologies that bring music to life with clarity and power, thrilling generations of fans.
“UltraSound and the Grateful Dead became a real part of Meyer Sound,” said Helen Meyer, Meyer Sound’s Executive Vice President. “They are part of our DNA because they had the same passion, the same desire to do better and better. The relationship grew, and we learned things together. It was a very collaborative work relationship, and it continues to be.”
“The Grateful Dead were a great vehicle for John’s work,” said drummer Mickey Hart. “Without John and Helen’s sound system, I could have never done what I do. So am I thankful to John and Helen? Yes, I’m more than thankful.”
In parallel to its work with the Grateful Dead, Meyer Sound forged a creative partnership with Francis Ford Coppola, whose Kennedy Center Honors celebrates his legacy as one of cinema’s most visionary storytellers.
The company’s relationship with Coppola extends back to 1979, when Coppola’s American Zoetrope sound team asked Meyer Sound to create a loudspeaker that could deliver Apocalypse Now’s unprecedented low-frequency effects with visceral impact. The result was the 650 subwoofer, used in Bay Area screenings of the film. “That was a turning point, because the Apocalypse mix was the basis of the ‘5-point’ mix,” said Coppola. “In the case of Meyer Sound, it’s very focused, without blur. This is power without distortion.”
As Meyer Sound celebrates 45 years of innovation in 2024, these milestones for the Grateful Dead and Coppola serve as a reminder of the company’s enduring commitment to artistic collaboration. “When we heard that the Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola were being honoured, John and I thought, ‘we have to be there,’” said Meyer. “We’re so excited about them being honoured, and we feel like we’ve played a little bit of a part in how they’ve done their work. So the idea of being there for them and being able to say congratulations, just felt like absolutely the right thing to do.”
The Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola headlined the class of Honourees celebrated at the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors event on December 8; other recipients included music legends Arturo Sandoval and Bonnie Raitt and The Apollo, which received a special Honours as an iconic American institution.
A MusiCares gala honouring Persons of the Year the Grateful Dead will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, 31 January 2025, two days before the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards. All proceeds support MusiCares’ vital programs and relief efforts for music people in times of need.
