Phil Lesh, bassist and founder of The Grateful Dead, died Friday, a producer who worked with him confirmed to CBS News. He was 84 years old.
A post on his Instagram account said Lesh “passed away peacefully this morning.”
/ Getty Images
“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 that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time,” the post said.
The Grateful Dead, one of America’s most enduring music groups, formed as a quintet in California in 1965, according to their official website. Jerry Garcia, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh were the original band members. The band signed with Warner Brothers in late 1966 and released their self-titled debut later that spring.
The band toured for the next half decade – an era that the band considers to be their most creatively fruitful. Some members left, some died and others joined, but the original magic of Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia remained intact through some of their most tumultuous years. García died in 1995.
Getty Images
The Grateful Dead toured extensively and amassed legions of fans around the world for their ability to play music and “jam.”
In 2007, the band received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The band broke the record most Top 40 albums to chart on the Billboard 200 in 2024. Although the band split in 1995 following the death of lead singer Jerry Garcia, the popularity of the archive albums propelled the music into the Top 40. Forty-one of the band’s 59 entries on the Top 40 have happened since then. 2012.
