Lauren A. Little November 21, 2005 Phil Lesh Monday at the Reading Eagle Theater ) at a concert with friends.
Media News Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images | Media News Group | Getty Images
Grateful Dead According to a post on their official Instagram account, founding member and bassist Phil Lesh passed away on Friday morning.
The California native and rock legend died at the age of 84.
Lesh “passed away peacefully” surrounded by his family, according to his Instagram post.
“Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and left a legacy of music and love,” the post read. “We ask that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Lesh grew up in the suburbs of San Francisco, where he began his musical journey by learning to play the classical violin. He replaced the violin with a trumpet and composed music inspired by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
In 1965, his friend, Jerry Garciarecruiting him as the bassist for The Warlocks. Soon after, the band changed its name to the Grateful Dead, with Lash as bassist and Garcia as guitarist.
The Dead blended rock, jazz and folk music to become one of the most influential groups in American history.
Lesh was known as a superb bassist who redefined the sound of bass and had a major influence on the sound of the Grateful Dead.
He is widely recognized as a rock bassist by other artists. Bob Dylan said of the bassist in his 2022 Grateful Dead bassist: “Lesh is the most technically virtuosic and creative you’ll ever hear. One of the bass players.
The group disbanded after 30 years, and Lesh fronted a new jazz band called Phil and Friends, which performed frequently in the Bay Area in the years before his death.
Lesh leaves behind his wife Jill and two sons Graham and Brian.
