Grateful Dead founding member Phil Lesh dies at 84
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Phil Lesh, a founding member of the legendary Bay Area rock band The Grateful Dead, has died at 84, according to a social media post from his account.
Lesh, who was born in Berkeley, was the oldest and one of the longest surviving members of the band that came to define the acid rock sound emanating from San Francisco in the 1960s.
"I cried immediately cause it feels like my dad died," said Todd Bolser, a Deadhead, as the fans are known. "The world is now missing a connector, a maven, a musical giant."
"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," the post read.
The statement did not cite a specific cause of death and attempts to reach representatives for additional details were not immediately successful. Lesh had previously survived bouts of prostate cancer, bladder cancer and a 1998 liver transplant necessitated by the debilitating effects of a hepatitis C infection and years of heavy drinking.
"Couple years ago, I was able to DJ and open for him at Stern Grove Festival, which is one of the biggest honors ever to be able to be close to one of my heroes," said musician Gregorio Figueroa, one of several fans who showed up to the Grateful Dead House in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood, a Victorian home where the band lived together in the late 1960s, to deliver flowers in memory of Lesh.
Dennis McNally is the historian for and a former promoter of the Grateful Dead for 20 years.
"They injected a level of creativity and experimentation that I don’t think any other band ever had," McNally told KTVU.
He remembers Lesh’s intelligence, which would help shape the band’s focus on live performance over record sales, blending multiple genres of music.
One fan flew in from Chicago to see one of the 800 Grateful Dead tribute bands playing Friday night at the Fox Theatre in Oakland.
Corey Fertel’s life revolves around the band’s music.
"It’s on my phone. It’s on every shirt I wear every day. It’s a huge part of my life," said Corey Fertel.
Lesh’s death comes two days after MusiCares named the Grateful Dead its Persons of the Year. MusiCares, which helps music professionals needing financial or other kinds of assistance, cited Lesh’s Unbroken Chain Foundation among other philanthropic initiatives. The Dead will be honored in January at a benefit gala ahead of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
The Grateful Dead formed in Palo Alto in 1965, evolving to perfect a kind of hybrid approach to their improvisational, jam band style, a sound that spans acid rock, psychedelia, folk, jazz, Americana, Bakersfield country and beyond. They created their own counterculture centered around their touring, a community known as Dead Heads, and have become one of the most in-demand live acts.
In 2007, the Grateful Dead received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Recording Academy.
In February of this year, The Grateful Dead broke the record for the most Top 40 albums to chart on the Billboard 200, then pulling out ahead of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra with 59. Forty-one of the band’s 59 entries in the Top 40 have happened since 2012, thanks to the popularity of the series of archival albums compiled by David Lemieux.
Lesh most recently lived in Ross, in Marin County.
He leaves behind a wife and two sons, along with countless adoring fans all over the world.
"Long live the Grateful Dead. God bless Phil Lesh," said Bolser. "Safe on your journey my friend. Thanks for being part of my life."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.