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Phil Lesh, the founding bassist for the Grateful Dead, has died. An announcement went out on his Instagram account today: “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.” Lesh was 84.
Lesh was born in Berkeley in 1940 and played violin and trumpet growing up. In high school he developed an interest in avant-garde composition and free jazz, which led to him studying under the experimental composer Luciano Berio at Mills College alongside classmate Steve Reich, among other university stints. While volunteering at Berkeley radio station KPFA, he met Jerry Garcia, a bluegrass banjo player at the time, and in 1964 he became the bassist for Garcia’s new band the Warlocks alongside guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Lesh had never played bass before, so he learned on the fly.
Just before the end of 1965, the Warlocks renamed themselves the Grateful Dead, playing their first show under the name at one of Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests. The Dead became key players in San Francisco’s massively influential psychedelic rock scene, using drugs to fuel extended improvisational performances. Expanding their musical vocabulary to include elements of jazz, country, and classical and attracting throngs of fans who followed them around on tour, they developed the template for the modern jam band in real time.
Lesh contributed highly melodic bass parts to the Grateful Dead’s music and wrote some of the band’s most enduring songs, including “Box Of Rain,” “Truckin’,” and “Unbroken Chain.” His interest in the avant-garde was a crucial influence on the Dead throughout their run. He also contributed high harmonies until the mid-1970s, when his vocal cords were damaged due to improper singing technique, but began singing lead vocals as a baritone a decade later. He continued with the band through various lineup changes, all the way through their breakup in 1995 following Garcia’s death.
After the Dead, Lesh led his own band, Phil Lesh And Friends and participated in Grateful Dead offshoots such as the Other Ones and the Dead. In 2009, he and Weir formed the band Furthur. In 2012, he opened a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads, in San Rafael, CA; his sons Grahame and Brian led the house band there until the venue’s closure in 2021. After Furthur’s breakup in 2014, Lesh retired from full-time touring. He took part in the Dead’s Fare Thee Well concerts in 2015 but was not a member of Dead & Company, the offshoot band started by Weir, Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart.
Lesh survived multiple medical scares. In 1998, he received a liver transplant to treat a chronic hepatitis C infection, then became an advocate for organ donation. In 2006, he underwent surgery for prostate cancer. In 2015, he had another surgery, this time for bladder cancer. He continued performing up until this year, including shows celebrating his 83rd and 84th birthdays at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. It’s hard to find a photo of the man where he’s not smiling.
Below, revisit some of Lesh’s most beloved tunes.
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