When we heard that the Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola were being honored, John and I thought, 'we have to be there.' We’re so excited about them being honored, 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.”
Helen MeyerExecutive Vice President, Meyer Sound
As the Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola are celebrated at the 47th annual Kennedy Center Honors and beyond, Meyer Sound proudly reflects on its decades of collaboration with these icons of creativity and innovation. 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.
A long, strange trip with the Grateful Dead
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. Emerging from San Francisco in the psychedelic 1960s, the band grew from a folk-inspired quintet into icons of a vibrant global counterculture and one of the most successful touring acts of all time.
Meyer Sound’s relationship with the Dead began in the early 1970s, when legendary sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley first tapped audio pioneer John Meyer to create acoustic solutions for the band’s groundbreaking “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 key 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,” says 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,” says 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.”
Shaping cinema sound with Francis Ford Coppola
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,” says Coppola. “In the case of Meyer Sound, it’s very focused, without blur. This is power without distortion.”
Coppola’s dedication to using sound as a vital storytelling element aligned with Meyer Sound’s mission to push the limits of loudspeaker performance, and four decades later, Meyer Sound’s technology, dubbed “Sensual Sound,” delivered sonic impact at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Apocalypse Now Final Cut, continuing to redefine what audiences could expect from film sound.
A legacy of inspiration
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 honored, John and I thought, ‘we have to be there,’” says Meyer. “We’re so excited about them being honored, 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 Honorees 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 Honors as an iconic American institution. The ceremony will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on Sunday, Dec. 22 (8:30/7:30 PM central).
A MusiCares® gala honoring Persons of the Year the Grateful Dead will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, January 31, 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. For event details, visit musicares.org/person-year.