Phil Lesh, the classically trained musician who co-founded the Grateful Dead and whose unconventional bass playing steered the band into some of its most experimental directions, died Friday at the age of 84.⠀
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Lesh’s death was announced on social media, with a short statement reading: “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.” No cause of death was given.⠀
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From the time of the Dead’s earliest incarnation as the Warlocks, Lesh enjoyed an intimate three-decade-long partnership with lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. He also claimed responsibility for their long-form improvisation inclinations, electronic experiments, and nightly free-form “space” interludes. After the group dissolved in 1995 due to Garcia’s death, Lesh went on to become an active keeper of its live flame in various configurations with former band members and in several iterations of Phil Lesh and Friends. The latter included numerous guests from the extended multigenerational improvised-rock community.⠀
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Philip Chapman Lesh, the Dead’s elder member, was born March 15, 1940, in Berkeley, California. His father fixed office machines and his parents co-owned a repair business. Lesh played viola and trumpet in school but gradually became more interested in composing than in performing. He attended UC-Berkeley, where he befriended the even more musically adventurous Tom Constanten (who would play keyboards with the Dead for a time), but dropped out during his first semester. ⠀
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In 1959, Lesh met Garcia at a Bay Area house party to which he had been directed, according to his 2005 memoir, “as if by an unseen hand.” Upon meeting Lesh again after a 1964 Warlocks gig, Garcia invited him to join the band on bass guitar, an instrument Lesh had never played.
