Phil Lesh, the co-founder and bassist of Grateful Dead, has died. According to a statement on his official social media accounts, Lesh “passed peacefully” on Friday, October 25. “He was surrounded by his family and full of love,” the statement read. “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.
Born in Berkeley, California, on March 15, 1940, Lesh started out as a violinist before switching to trumpet while enrolled at Berkeley High School. Having developed an interest in avant-garde classical music and free jazz, he went on to become the first trumpet chair at the University of California, where he studied under Italian composer Luciano Berio. He was also a classmate of Steve Reich. After meeting Jerry Garcia at Berkeley’s KPFA radio station, Lesh became the bassist for Garcia’s then-band, the Warlocks, in 1964 alongside guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann.
By late 1965, the group rebranded as the Grateful Dead, soon becoming a staple in San Francisco’s counterculture and psychedelic rock scene. They released their first album, also named Grateful Dead, in March 1967. Between 1967 and 1990, Lesh played on all 13 of the Dead’s studio releases and 10 official live albums. He provided harmony vocals until vocal cord damage in the 1970s, later returning as a baritone. He also co-wrote some of the band’s most iconic songs, including the opening and closing tracks on 1970’s American Beauty, ‘Box of Rain’ and ‘Truckin’’.
Following Garcia’s death in 1995, Lesh led his own band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and continued to perform with various Grateful Dead offshoots such as the Other Ones and the Dead. In 2009, Lesh and Weir formed the band Furthur. In 2012, he opened a popular venue called Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, where he often performed with his sons Grahame and Brian until its closure in 2021. Though he took part in the Dead’s Fare Thee Well concerts in 2015, Lesh was not a member of Dead & Company, the offshoot band started by Weir, Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart.
“I would have to say that music and performing are as essential as food and drink to me, but even more so as I get older,” Lesh told The Marin Independent Journal earlier this year. “While it can sometimes be more of a challenge physically than it was when I was a young whippersnapper, I’ve found that age brings wisdom, and with that comes musical experience and knowledge that I didn’t have when I was younger.”
Lesh battled multiple health challenges over his life, including a liver transplant in 1998. He underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2016 and later bladder cancer in 2015 before needing back surgery in 2019. Just two days before Lesh’s death, MusiCares named the Grateful Dead its 2025 Persons of the Year.
Surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann have penned a lengthy tribute to Lesh, which you can read below.
Today we lost a brother. Our hearts and love go out to Jill Lesh, Brian and Grahame. Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. In one note from the Phil Zone, you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river would flow. It went where the muse took it. He was an… pic.twitter.com/3u5lOomXxi
— Grateful Dead (@GratefulDead) October 26, 2024
— Mickey Hart (@mickeyhart) October 26, 2024
Phil Lesh was my brother. Not by blood but still by family. I’ve heard so many of you tell me that the Grateful Dead changed your life. Yeah, well… Phil Lesh changed mine.
Thank you Phil. I’ll miss you, darn it. pic.twitter.com/jza6HXU7Mk
— Bill Kreutzmann (@BKreutzmann) October 26, 2024
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