Grateful Dead founding member and bassist Phil Lesh has died at 84.
According to a statement posted to his official Instagram account, Lesh ‘passed peacefully’ Friday morning while surrounded by his family.
“Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning,” the statement 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. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Lesh was 84 at the time of his passing. (Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)
Lesh was widely known for his prolific work as a musician within and outside of American rock band Grateful Dead.
In 1965, his friend Jerry Garcia, recruited him as a bassist for The Warlocks. The band went on to rename itself as the Grateful Dead shortly after, with Lesh on the bass and Garcia on guitar.
With a fusion of rock, jazz, and folk, the Grateful Dead were among the most seminal bands in American history and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Lesh was widely celebrated by fans and his peers within the music industry with Bob Dylan praising him in his 2022 book The Philosophy of Modern Song, writing: “Lesh is one of the most skilled bassists you’ll ever hear in subtlety and invention.”
Fans have also taken to social media to pay tribute to the legendary musician with one user writing on Twitter: “RIP Phil Lesh, the cerebral, avant-garde, post-Beat genius who took the Dead’s sound far beyond psych-blues and folk into weird empyrean realms of free jazz & classical. He could play the bass like a heartbeat or a tidal wave, searching for new but timeless sounds eternally.”
Another user wrote, “Listen to any Dead recording, and another world unlocks when you listen to what Phil Lesh is doing. Mount Rushmore bassist. All-time great musician. Righteous dude who championed young talent till the very end. Thank you for the music, Phil. RIP.”
Lesh was a bassist for the Grateful Dead for over 20 years. (Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)
“RIP Phil Lesh. I’ve been a Deadhead my whole adult life,” another user wrote. “I don’t have the words right now to explain how much the music and community that this man helped create has meant to me, but I surely am grateful for it. Ride on Phil.”
The Grateful Dead dissolved after 30 years, and Lesh went on to find his own jazz band, Phil and Friends.
Lesh is survived by his wife Jill and their two sons, Grahame and Brian.
