Sturgill Simpson acknowledged the Grateful Dead for the band’s upcoming Kennedy Center Honors, performing a twangy country cover of the band’s classic “Ripple.”

Simpson performed the song in front of Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, the Dead’s three surviving members. He was joined on stage by Don Was and the late Phil Lesh’s grandson, Grahame, to perform the 1970s track American Beautyj.

Simpson has become increasingly familiar with the Dead’s music in recent years, particularly when he joined part of the band at the Dead Ahead Festival in Mexico in early 2024. He told Uncut Magazine that learning to play guitar from Jerry Garcia gave him new inspiration. “After I got home from those shows, all I could think about was going back to playing guitar for 10 hours a day,” he said. “Jerry Garcia, I hate to say it, might have saved my life.”

The Grateful Dead are one of four artists honored at the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month, along with Bonnie Raitt, Francis Ford Coppola and Arturo Sandoval. Queen Latifah will host the show, which airs Sunday, December 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. Other artists include Maggie Rogers, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile and Dave Matthews.

The dead will also receive further honors in the coming months; They will be recognized as MusiCares’ 2025 Personalities of the Year during Grammy Week in Los Angeles in February.