The Grateful Dead have performed the first of their final three concerts in Chicago as the band winds up a 50-year-run.  

The show in Chicago was the first of the three final ones they'll ever do.

They chose Chicago for their swansong because that's where lead guitarist Jerry Garcia last played as frontman before his death in 1995.

All three shows at the 61, 500-seat Soldier Field Stadium have sold out.

The Grateful Dead started life in California in 1965 and emerged as the template for other groups like Phish and Blues Traveler.

All four surviving members of the original line-up are playing for the final three shows over the weekend

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