ABSTRACT
The Grateful Dead, a North American rock band that stopped performing in 1995 after 30 years together, was as well known for its fans as it was for its music. Deadheads, as these fans are called, traveled from venue to venue to hear the band play, sometimes staying “on tour” with them for extended periods of time. For a variety of reasons, on which we elaborate later, members of the cultural mainstream viewed the relationship that Deadheads had with the band and the community surrounding it as inappropriate. Many Deadheads spent a great deal of time and money following the band, appeared to value collective experiences more than individual material success, dressed in “hippie” clothing, and either used or approved of the use of psychedelic drugs. These values and behaviors, along with Deadheads’ “questionable” musical taste, led the cultural mainstream to stigmatize these fans.
