Grateful Dead announce 'last shows' at Soldier Field .The four living members of the Grateful Dead will be performing with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio for a trio of 50th anniversary shows at Soldier Field, July 3-5.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Phish’s Trey Anastasio will join the remaining members of the Grateful Dead to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary and pay final tribute to the band’s gray-bearded leader and guitarist, Jerry Garcia, July 3-5 at Soldier Field.

The announcement Friday in Billboard magazine didn’t come as a total surprise. It was perhaps inevitable that the Dead’s Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann would do something to memorialize the 20th anniversary of the band’s final performances with Garcia. The only real questions were when, where and, more importantly, how.

“These will be the last shows with the four of us together,” Weir told Billboard. Lesh invited Anastasio to join. “I got a really heart-warming letter from Phil saying that he and the other three guys had talked about it and hoped I would do it,” Anastasio told Billboard. “I didn’t hesitate for a second to say yes.”

Keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti also will join the group.

Tickets will be available to fan club members Feb. 9-11, Billboard said. Pre-sales will be held Feb. 12-13 and Feb. 14. For more information, visit Dead50.net.

The end of an era.