Image: refer to hsw
About This Quiz
They left a patchouli-scented wake across the world. How much do you know about the Grateful Dead?
How did the musicians choose a name for their band?
A dictionary
Jerry Garcia reportedly opened the book to a random page.
A Ouija board
A psychic
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Roughly how many albums has the band sold worldwide?
97 million
35 million
They are one of the best-selling bands from the 1960s.
20 million
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Which of the band's songs is listed as a U.S. national treasure?
"Truckin"
It was all about life on the road.
"Friend of the Devil"
"Uncle John's Band"
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How many different people played in the band throughout its lifespan?
18
12
They were an eclectic group of musicians.
9
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In which year was the band formed?
1965
The band was born in California.
1959
1957
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What was the nickname of the sound system built just for the band's tours?
Lucy
The Fortress
Wall of Sound
It was a massive system that made their music audible for everyone.
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How many Top 10 hits did the band record?
1
The lack of hits didn't hinder the band's upward trajectory.
4
8
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The band originally went by which name?
Wandering Wizards
Magic Men
Warlocks
They changed it when they realized the name was already taken.
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About how many different songs did the band perform live?
250
500
Amazingly, they played a new setlist at nearly every show.
700
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On which album cover did the lightning bolt and skull graphic first appear?
"Anthem of the Sun"
"Steal Your Face"
"History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice)"
Like the so-called dancing bears, this artwork became as legendary as the band.
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To what ailment did Ron "Pigpen" McKernan succumb?
Alcohol abuse
He played his last show with the group in 1972.
Cancer
Heart attack
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What were the "dancing bears" actually doing, according to the artist that created them?
Marching
He thought it was clear that the bears were marching instead of dancing.
Singing
Falling down
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What was the name of the band's only Top 10 hit?
"Casey Jones"
"Truckin"
"Touch of Grey"
The music video was extremely popular on MTV.
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Why did Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux leave the band?
They struggled with drug abuse.
But Keith did die in a car wreck not long after their departure.
They had family obligations.
They were injured in a car accident.
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The cover of "American Beauty" is an ambigram that also reads as what?
"American Reality"
The album has gone double platinum.
"American Brutality"
"American Hearts"
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What band inspired the Dead to pursue rock instead of jug music?
The Moody Blues
The Beatles
Like everyone else, they were drawn to The Beatles.
The Rolling Stones
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Tom Constanten worked in the Air Force doing what job?
Piloting
Bomb loading
Computer programming
He was sent to Vietnam even though he was against the war.
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Sometimes the band's live version of "Dark Star" would run about how long?
19 minutes
50 minutes
The studio version was less than three minutes long.
90 minutes
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How many AWOLs did Jerry Garcia receive during his nine-month stint in the Army?
8
He clearly wasn't cut out for military life.
4
2
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Robert Hunter took part in a Stanford University experiment on what subject?
Psychedelic chemicals
The research was secretly funded by the CIA.
Pain response
Smoking
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Donna Jean Godchaux was a backup singer for which No. 1 song?
"Make it With You"
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
"When a Man Loves a Woman"
She and her husband introduced themselves to the band after one of their concerts.
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About how many live shows did the band play?
3200
2300
That's more than 75 shows per year for three decades.
1700
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Which of the band's albums was the first to crack the Top 40?
"Steal Your Face"'
"American Beauty"
"Workingman's Dead"
It was the band's fifth studio album.
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In total, roughly how many people saw the band perform live?
25 million
Nearly 80,000 people attended one show.
43 million
82 million
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How did Vince Welnick die?
A fan attacked him.
He cut his own throat.
He'd battled depression for more than a decade.
He was stabbed by a serial killer.
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How did Jerry Garcia lose part of one finger?
The family dog bit him.
His brother chopped it off with an ax.
This surely resulted in some sibling resentment
He ran with scissors.
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Which band member died of a drug overdose?
Brent Myland
The 1990 death was a startling event in a band that copiously used drugs.
Jerry Garcia
Bob Weir
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For how many bands did Phil Lesh play bass guitar before joining the Dead?
0
He essentially learned how to play on the fly.
2
5
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For their 1974 tour, how many speakers did the band use for their performances?
604
That was more than 70 tons of speakers, man.
290
146
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In what year did Jerry Garcia die?
1993
1995
It was the end of an era for an iconic band.
1999
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You Got:
/30
