It’s been a tough year for music fans.

We lost NOLA prophet Dr. John and funk icon Art Neville, drumming titans Neil Peart and Ginger Baker as well as surf-rock pioneer Dick Dale.

Some could argue that the jam scene was particularly heartbroken in 2019, as musician after musician had their lives cut short: from beloved mandolinist Jeff Austin to guitar visionary Neal Casal to TTB guiding light Kofi Burbridge to Railroad Earth specialist Andy Goessling to Little Feat luminary Paul Barrere.

And we’d be remiss to forget Robert Hunter who took his final bow in September.

However, on music’s biggest night no less, Hunter, Burbridge, Austin, Casal, Goessling and Barrere were all missing from the Grammy’s “In Memoriam” presentation.

And while all of these artists deserved to be honored, Burbridge and Hunter seem like the most glaring oversights.

Burbridge won two Grammys over his 30+ year career, one in 2009 for his work on Derek Trucks Band’s Already Free and one in 2011 for his contributions to Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Relevator.

Hunter, on the other hand, never won a Grammy personally, but the Grateful Dead won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2007.

And as any music scholar could argue, Hunter left an indelible footprint on American music, penning some of the Grateful Dead’s greatest verses while crafting the Dead’s iconic lyric imagery.

Hunter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an official member of the Grateful Dead in 1994, and is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. He is also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Adding insult to injury, the Grammys also managed to misspell The Cars guitarist/founder Ric Ocasek’s name wrong during the memorial slideshow, despite using the band’s “My Best Friend’s Girl” in the background.

Now, we at Relix know that typos happen, but toss in all of these oversights and it seems like we’re mourning these legends all over again. At least here, we continue to embrace the legacies of Hunter, Burbridge, Casal, Austin, Goessling and Barrere.

As Hunter so wisely wrote, “Such a long long time to be gone, and a short time to be there.”

Watch the “In Memoriam” clip below.

And if you’d like to get your hands on Relix‘s entire issue devoted to Robert Hunter – our 300th ever – click here.