An American drummer who played with the Grateful Dead for their entire 30-year career.

Kreutzmann started playing drums at the age of 13. As a teenager, he met Aldous Huxley at his high school, who encouraged him in his drumming. At the end of 1964 he co-founded the Warlocks with Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan. Their first real gig was on May 5, 1965, two days before Kreutzmann's 19th birthday. In November 1965, the Warlocks became the Grateful Dead.
Meeting fellow percussionist Mickey Hart in the fall of 1967 had a big impact on Kreutzmann's career. Hart soon joined the Dead, making it one of the first (and few) rock bands to feature two drummers. The two percussionists' remarkable cohesion, synchronicity and driving power became a hallmark of the Grateful Dead sound, and earned them the nickname the Rhythm Devils. Their lengthy drum duets were a feature of every show from 1979–1995. Kreutzmann remained with the Grateful Dead until its dissolution following Garcia's death in 1995. Along with Garcia, Weir and Lesh, he played at every one of the band's 3,500 shows.

Kreutzmann's first post-Dead musical project was Backbone, a trio with guitarist Rick Barnett and bassist Edd Cook. They released a self-titled album in 1998.

In 1998, Weir, Lesh and Hart formed a band called the Other Ones, which played a number of shows as part of the Furthur Festival but did not play live in 1999. Kreutzmann joined the band on tour in 2000 and 2002. In 2003, they changed their name to the Dead and played a number of live concerts in 2003 and 2004.

Kreutzmann collaborated with Journey guitarist Neal Schon, Sy Klopps, Ira Walker and Ralph Woodson to form the Trichromes in 2002.
In December 2005, Kreutzmann participated in the 17th Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam as the drummer for SerialPod, a group which also included former Phish members Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon.

During 2006, Kreutzmann teamed up with Hart, Gordon and former Other Ones guitarist Steve Kimock to form the Rhythm Devils. The band features songs from their respective former bands as well as new songs written by Robert Hunter. The Rhythm Devils played their first tour in 2006 and in 2008 they released a DVD called The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience.

In 2008, Kreutzmann toured the northeastern United States with bassist Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Band and guitarist Scott Murawski of Max Creek as a trio called KBM.

Kreutzmann also does work as a visual artist and, in 2001, began releasing limited edition reproductions of his digital artwork.