Practically born with drumsticks in his hands, both of his parents were champion rudimental (marching-band style) drummers, Mickey Hart committed to percussion from the very beginning. After experience in both high school and Air Force marching bands and working briefly in his father’s drum shop, he encountered Bill Kreutzmann one night at the Matrix in San Francisco. On September 30, 1967, he sat in with the Grateful Dead... and joined the band. Hart’s arrival pushed the Grateful Dead into complex, multi-rhythmic explorations. A student of Ustad Alla Rakha, the renowned tabla player and accompanist to Ravi Shankar, Hart introduced elements of non-Western traditions into the group’s music. With Kreutzmann, he became one half of the “Rhythm Devils,” whose extended drum duets and polyrhythmic explorations became a hallmark of Grateful Dead performances. Hart’s fascination with sound and rhythm also found its way into the Dead’s most experimental recordings, particularly Anthem of the Sun and Aoxomoxoa. His curiosity helped open the band’s music to new dimensions and ensured that percussion was always at the center of the Grateful Dead’s expansive sonic palette. In 1991, Hart’s groundbreaking Planet Drum project won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, underscoring his role as a pioneering force in global percussion. Mickey lives in Northern California with his wife, Caryl. He is the proud father of Reya and Taro, and grandfather to Liam and Rafe.
