Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead bassist and founding member, dies at 84
Lauren A. LittleNovember 21, 2005Phil Lesh during the Phil Lesh and Friends concert Monday at the Reading Eagle Theatre.
Medianews Group/reading Eagle Via Getty Images | Medianews Group | Getty Images
Grateful Dead founding member and bassist Phil Lesh died Friday morning, according to a post on his official Instagram account.
The California native and rock legend was 84.
Lesh “passed peacefully” while surrounded by family, according to the post to his Instagram.
“Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love,” the post read. “We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Lesh was raised in a suburb of San Francisco, where he started his music journey by learning to play the classical violin. He traded the violin for the trumpet and composed music inspired by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
In 1965, his friend, Jerry Garcia, recruited him as a bassist for The Warlocks. Shortly afterward, the band renamed itself the Grateful Dead, with Lesh on bass and Garcia on guitar.
The Dead fused rock, jazz and folk, going on to become one of the most influential bands in American history.
Known for being a virtuosic bassist, Lesh is credited with redefining the sound of the bass and heavily influencing the Grateful Dead’s sound.
He was widely recognized by other artists as a defining rock bass player. “Lesh is one of the most skilled bassists you’ll ever hear in subtlety and invention,” Bob Dylan wrote about the Grateful Dead bassist in his 2022 book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song.”
The band dissolved after 30 years, with Lesh presiding over a new jazz band called Phil and Friends, often playing shows in the Bay Area in the years before his death.
Lesh leaves behind his wife, Jill, and their two sons, Grahame and Brian.
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