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Capitol View®
Brett Neely

Franken taps Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir for fundraiser

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20140604_weir_53
of the Grateful Dead perform at the Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball for Barack Obama at the Washington Convention Center on January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (David McNew/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - The list of celebrities raising money for Sen. Al Franken keeps getting longer. The latest: former Grateful Dead singer and guitarist, Bob Weir, who will perform with his current band, Ratdog, at a fundraiser for Franken next week at the Northrop Auditorium.

"As you know, I really love the Grateful Dead. Really," wrote Franken in an invitation obtained by MPR News. Tickets for the event start at $250 and go up to $2,600 for those choosing the "Sound Check, Dinner & Show" option.

Weir and Franken are longtime friends. Franken and his former comedy partner, Tom Davis, even performed comedy sketches during a Dead concert in New York's Central Park in 1980 and Franken invited Weir onto his radio show several times in the 2000s.

Other celebrity friends deployed by Franken for fundraising including comedians Conan O'Brien and Amy Poehler and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm. Those celebrities helped grow Franken's donor base by raffling off the opportunity to attend a fancy fundraiser to meet the celebrity in person.

Franken is far ahead in the cash race with about $6 million in his campaign bank account as of March 31.