The Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has died at the age of 84.
Lesh, who co-founded the legendary US band in 1965 and played with them until they split in 1995, passed away on Friday October 25, according to a statement posted on Instagram. No cause of death was given.
The statement read: “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.”
Born in Berkeley, California in 1940, Lesh, who had a background in avant garde music, was recruited by his friend Jerry Garcia to play bass his band The Warlocks in 1964, despite never having played the instrument before.
The Warlocks changed their name to The Grateful Dead the following year, and quickly assumed a place at the centre of the Bay Area’s burgeoning counter-culture scene. They played shows for LSD guru Ken Kesey’s at his so-called Acid Tests.
“It was a dollar to get in,” Lesh told Classic Rock. “We weren’t famous and we weren’t even required to play, but we played a few tunes and discovered freedom. There was communication from the audience, not in words but fragments of ideas. That’s how we evolved and learned to listen to each other as musicians.”
Between 1967 and 1969, they released a string of albums that helped define the psychedelic movement, including 1968’s Anthem Of The Sun, 1969’s Aoxomoxoa and the same year’s in-concert Live/Dead.
Describing his band’s MO at the time, Lesh told Classic Rock that it was about “the moment and collective improvisation. When we were really on it, we could open the valve. And if the [record] company didn’t like it, we didn’t give a shit. Fire us. We don’t care.”
By the time of 1970’s Workingman’s Dead, The Grateful had pivoted towards a rootsier style that echoed The Band’s proto-Americana. Lesh remained a linchpin of the band throughout the 70s, 80s and early 90s, as they became a touring juggernaut famed for their epic live sets. At one point, his bass stack was 32 feet high.
When the band announced they were splitting in 1995 following the death of Garcia, he formed Phil Lesh And Friends to continue playing his old band’s material and covers of other artists’ songs with an ever-shifting collective of musicians, including members of Phish, The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, as well as some of the surviving members of The Grateful Dead.
He also united with various ex-bandmates in The Others Ones, The Dead and Furthur, also dedicated to keeping his former band’s music alive.
Lesh underwent a liver transplant in 1998 as a result of contracting hepatitis C. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and underwent surgery. He was subsequently diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2013.
Speaking to Classic Rock in 2017, Lesh addressed his legacy and his relationship with The Grateful Dead’s music: “I guess while we can still crawl out there, we will. The music won’t stop until we do. It’s a case of last man standing.”
