Phil Lesh has died. As a founding member of legendary rock band Grateful Dead, Lesh was a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, a multi-platinum artist, and a frequent entrant on lists of the greatest bass players of all time. Originally a classically trained horned player, Lesh’s adoption of the bass in the 1960s helped shape the modern sound of the instrument; learning “on the job,” in his own words, he helped elevate the instrument from a simple backing and rhythm element into a lead component of the band’s sound. Also a successful solo artist, philanthropist, and music venue operator, Lesh died on Friday. He was 84.
A violinist and trumpet player with an interest in Avant-garde classical music and free jazz, Lesh’s friendship with bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia was a bit of an odd fit when the two met in the world of Berkeley public radio in the 1960s. But the two became close enough that, when Garcia’s band The Warlocks needed a bass player, Lesh agreed—despite never having played the bass before. Those gigs would evolve into a 30-plus-year relationship with the Dead, which saw Lesh tour around the planet, work on dozens of studio and live albums, and ultimately spend the next 60 years making music with his friends. (Sometimes quite literally, in the case of his later band Phil Lesh And His Friends.)
Although he contributed occasional vocals and songwriting duties—including credits on many of the band’s biggest hits, including “Truckin'” and “Unbroken Chain,” the latter of which would lend its name to a charitable foundation Lesh would later run with his wife—Lesh’s primary focus was on the bass. The Dead’s famous jam sessions often highlighted his work, with he and Garcia essentially trading lead duties on their long musical explorations.
Grateful Dead broke up formally in 1995, after Garcia’s death, but Lesh would continue to play with his former bandmates in various arrangements for the next two decades, culminating in a five-show set of “Fare Thee Well” performances in California and Chicago in 2015. Lesh also continued to play and release music with Phil Lesh And Friends, a group made up of more than 100 contributors, drawn from former bandmates, collaborators, touring mates, and those who were just inspired by Lesh’s life-long body of music. In addition to its musicianship, Lesh’s later work was noted for his frequent, kind-hearted reminders to fans to sign up for organ donation. (He himself was the recipient of a liver transplant in 1998, and often thanked his donor by name during shows.) Lesh’s death was confirmed on social media earlier today.
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