Phil Leshwho six decades ago formed the Grateful Dead, one of the quintessential groups of the psychedelic revolution in San Francisco, along with Jerry Garcia (lead guitar and vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan (keyboards, harmonica and voice), has died at the age of 84 as reported by the family through the bassist’s own account on social networks. «Phil Lesh passed away 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 ask for respect for the privacy of the Lesh family at this time,” they explained on their Instagram account.
Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, in 1940. He began playing the violin before switching to the trumpet, and later in the early ’60s he was driving a mail truck and working as a sound engineer at a small radio station when he met to banjo player Jerry Garcia, who later asked him to join his rock band, The Warlocks, as bassist. The group changed its name in 1965, signed with Warner Brothers in late 1966, and issued its self-titled debut in March of the following year.
Lesh sang lead vocals on some of the band’s most memorable songs, including ‘Box of Rain’, from the 1970 album ‘American Beauty’, which he wrote with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and ‘Unbroken Chain’, from ‘From the Mars Hotel’, from 1974. He also wrote other of the group’s biggest hits, such as ‘Pride of Cucamonga’ and ‘Dark Star’.
“On a day-to-day basis, the psychic pivot of the Dead is Phil Lesh, the most aggressive purist, the anti-philistine artist,” wrote Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally in his 2002 book A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. «It is he who most often and loudly demands that they dance as close as possible to the edge of the nearest available cliff. Intellectual, kinetic, intense, he was once nicknamed Reddy Kilowatt in recognition of his great mental and physical speed.
Following the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, the Grateful Dead announced their dissolution, although Lesh reunited with bandmates Bob Weir and Mickey Hart and keyboardist Bruce Hornsby to tour as The Other Ones and, later, The Dead. He then continued with the ‘Phil Lesh and Friends’ project, where he played covers of his old group. In 2007, the band received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and this year they broke the record for albums with the most Top 40 hits on the Billboard 200 chart.
Lesh also ran a popular live music venue called Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, where he often performed with his sons, Grahame and Brian. Although Terrapin closed in 2021, the Lesh family continued to host live music events in Northern California, most recently hosting a festival called Sunday Daydreams, which Lesh headlined last summer.
Although the cause of Lesh’s death is unknown, he had several health problems over the past few years. In 2015, he announced that he was being treated for bladder cancer in the United States. Nine years earlier he had surgery for prostate cancer and recovered completely. He also underwent a liver transplant in 1998, becoming a passionate advocate for organ donations. He had been married to his wife, Jill, for more than 20 years, with whom he had two children.
#Grateful #Dead #founding #bassist #Phil #Lesh #dies
