He was only ten years old when Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s creative lead and reluctant patriarch, died of an overdose, and his pregame setlist veers more toward Meek Mill and 2 Chainz than the masters of American psychedelia. None of which explains LeBron’s affinity to the Dead. The dancing bear icon first showed up as stickers slapped on Bear’s amplifiers and other sound equipment. The Bear in question was Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the architect of the Dead’s distinctive sound and a pioneer in the production and distribution of early LSD. They’ve been showing up on bootleg t-shirts, bumper stickers, and even headbands since they first appeared on the back cover of the forgettable 1973 album The History of the Grateful Dead, Vol. From there, Deadheads began creating their own merchandise featuring the dancing bears including bootleg stickers and shirts to name a few, and the symbol was forevermore associated with the Dead.The Dancing Bears, as they’re commonly known, are a staple of the Grateful Dead’s visual identity. Because the bears were featured on the album art as well as within the social sphere of communal drug use at the band’s live performances, they quickly became a symbol deeply entwined with the culture of listening to the Grateful Dead. What does this have to do with the dancing bears you ask?Īctually a lot! Following the release of the Dead’s album, the bears motif began appearing on Stanley’s LSD blotter art, which also just so happened to be widely circulated at most Grateful Dead concerts at the time.

In addition to being the band’s sound engineer, Owsley Stanley was also one of the world’s first private LSD manufacturers. The Bears originally appeared on the back cover of the Grateful Dead’s Bear’s Choice album launching the design into the public eye, but this album circulation only accounted for a portion of the rapid fame attributed to the bears. The actual principal design for the style of bear we now commonly associate with the Grateful Dead was born from a 36-point lead type slug featuring a generic bear print that Thomas found and used as his primary artistic inspiration. There is also speculation that the moniker “Dancing Bear” was attributed to Stanley in reference to his peculiar choice of dance moves at concerts while high on acid. The choice to create a symbol using bears as the focal point stems from Owsley Stanley’s nickname “Bear” given to him by childhood friends as a result of his excessive chest hair. In addition to these ubiquitous graphics, Thomas also designed the art for the The Dead’s Steal Your Face and Live Dead as well as the logo for Alembic, an American manufacturer of high-end electric guitars, basses and preamps started by Owsley Stanley, the Grateful Dead’s sound engineer. Thomas actually has a long history tied with The Dead having co-designed the band’s iconic “Lightning Bolt” logo with Owsley Stanley in 1969 as a means of keeping track of the band’s equipment while on tour.

The dancing bear design was originally created by artist and renaissance man Bob Thomas for use on the back of the Grateful Dead’s 1973 album The History of the Grateful Dead, Volume 1 (Bear’s Choice). A Design Born from Artistic Collaboration

Grateful dead dancing bears logo