About Mickey

Welcome to the Mickey Hart website, a portal into the vibrant and multifaceted world of an artist who lives to create in various forms. Mickey Hart sees himself as an artist, finding art in the simplest things from a young age, like the challenge of not stepping on cracks on a sidewalk. This seemingly trivial pursuit sparked his passion for creativity, leading him to become adept at various artistic expressions. Hours spent shaping sand and drumming around a fire on the beach became his artistic expressions, as did witnessing the captivating  girls who danced around that fire. Mickey realized that any passion can be transformed into art, and for him, it was music, rhythm, and drums that became his tools, his brushes, through which he explored countless avenues.

Through his diverse accomplishments and experiences, Mickey Hart aims to offer you a comprehensive view of the Mickeyverse, a world that encompasses his passions and endeavors across music, art, preservation, research, environmental advocacy, and more.

Mickey Hart is best known as a drummer in the Grateful Dead, a band that channeled the voices and visions of rock’s psychedelic counterculture and blended them with various American music streams. His contributions to the band led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and being named one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

In 2015, Mickey Hart joined the other surviving Grateful Dead members for the Fare Thee Well tour, a 50th-anniversary celebration that became one of the most successful events in the history of live entertainment.

Throughout the years, Mickey Hart has accomplished a range of endeavors. He has delved into music, creating captivating compositions, recording albums, and authoring insightful books. His work extends beyond music to ventures like preserving and showcasing indigenous music collections at Folkways and conducting scientific research on the brain and its connection to music at UCSF. He authored the Endangered Music Project at the Library of Congress and had the opportunity to advocate for music and rhythm as therapy in the halls of Congress.

Beyond music, Mickey Hart has embarked on ventures like utilizing drones for Sonic Bathing, using sound as a means of transformative experiences. He has actively participated in environmental advocacy alongside Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, taking a firm stance against deforestation and advocating for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. Additionally, he had the honor of composing the opening ceremony at the 1996 Olympics and holding a Guinness World Record of the largest drum circle composed of 4374 drummers. Mickey’s contributions have been recognized on a national level, including his work on The National Recording Preservation Act.

Music, in its essence, is a mysterious and intangible force. It defies a definitive definition, as different cultures perceive and delineate sonic boundaries in their own unique ways. However, despite its elusive nature, music has an undeniable impact on us as human beings. It moves us, inspires us, and transforms our consciousness, taking our minds and spirits to uncharted territories.

At its core, Mickey Hart believes that music is the most natural and potent tool for harmonizing the world. Music transcends the limitations of color, politics, geography, wealth, gender, and age. It is oblivious to divisions and disparities, recognizing only the harmonious collaboration that unites individuals and communities in the act of its creation. By bringing together these diverse forces in both music makers and listeners alike, we achieve the harmonization of society.

 Mickey Hart acknowledges the evolutionary significance of music, with roots that predate human existence. Sonic events used for communication, mating rituals, warning cries, and territorial marking can be found in many prehuman species. The expansion of sound to express social and personal identity played a crucial role in the development of the prehuman brain and contributed to the creation of humanity itself. Music possesses a dual nature, being both culturally specific and integral to defining the essence of our species.