Legendary bassist Phil Lesh, one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, died Friday at the age of 84.
“Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning,” a statement on a post on Instagram on his account read. “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,” the statement added. “We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Lesh founded the Dead in 1965 alongside frontman Jerry Garcia, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Bobby Weir, and Bill Kreutzmann. He played with the band for the entirety of its 30 year career.
Lesh not only helped craft the unique sound that “Deadheads” came to love, but also heloed write some of the group’s most memorable songs, including “Dark Star,” “St. Stephen,” “Cumberland Blues,” “Truckin’,” and “Box of Rain,” the last of which he also sang.
Born in Berkley, California in 1940, Lesh had a love of music from a very young age. He was classically trained in both the violin and trumpet before finding his calling as a rock bassist, the Associated Press noted.
Fans of the band would often be treated to jazz-infused jam sessions between Garcia and Lesh at Dead shows.
“It’s always fluid, we just pretty much figure it out on the fly,” Lesh said. “You can’t set those things in stone in the rehearsal room.”
In 1994, Lesh and the Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band dissolved a year later following Garcia’s death in 1995.
Lesh’s passing comes just days after the charitable organization MusicCares announced it would honor the Grateful Dead’s original members as its 2025 Persons of the Year.
“This honor is truly a testament to the legacy of the music, which has always been bigger than us — it’s about the connection between us, the crew, and all those who’ve been on this long strange trip,” Kreutzmann, Weir, Lesh, and drummer Mickey Hart said in a joint statement Wednesday.
“It’s not just about what we create, but about making sure the people behind it, behind us every night, the ones who quietly make it all happen, get the support they need to keep going, no matter what life throws at them.”
Lesh beat prostate cancer in 2006, and bladder cancer nine years later. He is survived by his wife, Jill, and their sons, Brian and Grahame.
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