Grateful Dead founding member Phil Lesh dies
Phil Lesh, a founding member of the US rock band the Grateful Dead, has died aged 84.
The bass player featured in the original line-up of the band alongside Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.
His death on Friday was confirmed in a post on his Instagram account.
It 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.”
The statement did not cite a specific cause of death but Lesh had previously survived bouts of prostate cancer, bladder cancer and a 1998 liver transplant necessitated by the debilitating effects of a hepatitis C infection.
Lesh, a classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter, found his true calling as a founding member of the Grateful Dead.
The band came to define the acid rock sound emanating from San Francisco in the 1960s.
Lesh wrote the music for the popular Grateful Dead track Unbroken Chain – which reflects on the band’s connection with its audience.
He also sang the wistful Box Of Rain in 1970, which he wrote while his father was dying.
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His death means Weir and Kreutzmann are the only two remaining survivors from the original line-up of the band.
The group disbanded after lead singer Jerry Garcia died in 1995 at a drug rehabilitation clinic aged 53, while McKernan had died of liver disease in 1973.
Later members to have died are Brent Myland, who suffered an overdose in 1990, and Keith Godchaux – who was killed in a car crash in 1980 after he left the group.
