Yahoo Lifestyle Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead Founding Member, Dead at 84
Phil Lesh, a founding member and a bassist for The Grateful Dead, has died. He was 84.
The news was revealed via social media on Friday, Oct. 25, with a statement on the late musician's official Instagram account.
🤩🤩 SIGN UP for Parade's Trending News newsletter & we'll keep you in the know on the viral pop culture moments & celebrity news everyone is talking about 🗞️🗞️
"Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning," the announcement read. "He was surrounded by his family and full of love."
The post—which included a photo of Lesh performing on stage—continued, "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."
Further details, including an official cause of death, have not been released at this time.
View the original article to see embedded media.
A California native, Lesh was among the founding members of The Grateful Dead, along with lead guitarist and main songwriter Jerry Garcia, and members Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann.
Lesh played with the band for its entire 30-year history, which ended in 1995 after Garcia died of a heart attack at 53.
During Dead's run, Lesh's contributed bass work, high harmonies and occasional lead vocals. He also had a hand in co-writing some of the band's most famous songs, including "Box of Rain," "Cumberland Blues" and "Truckin." The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
After The Grateful Dead, Lesh performed in the Other Ones, the Dead and Further, and Phil Lesh and Friends.
Years before his death, Lesh dealt with various health issues, including a liver transplant in 1998 following a hepatitis C infection, a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2006 and a battle with bladder cancer in 2015.
Just two days before he died, the members of The Grateful Dead were named 2025 Persons of the Year by MusiCares. The band's original members will be honored in a ceremony in January to celebrate their creative and philanthropic work.
Lesh is survived by his wife, Jill, and their sons, Grahame and Brian.
