The Grateful Dead call late bassist Phil Lesh their “brother”

After his death at the age of 84, the Grateful Dead hailed the band’s late bassist Phil Lesh as their “brother”.

The Grateful Dead hailed the band’s late bassist Phil Lesh as their “brother.”

They paid tribute to the musician following the guitarist’s “peaceful” death at the age of 84 on Friday (26/10/24) morning, in a joint statement by the surviving members of the iconic psychedelic band: Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

Remembering Phil’s wife and children, the group wrote on Instagram: “Today we lost a brother. Our hearts and love go out to Jill Lesh, Brian and Grahame. Phil Lesh was irreplaceable.”

Paying tribute to Phil’s guitar style, they added: “In one note with Phil Zone you could hear and feel the world being born.

“His bass flowed like a river. It went where the muse took it.

“He was an explorer of interior and exterior space who happened to play the bass. “He was a sailor of previously unknown musical worlds. And even more.”

Phil’s bandmates added that they “can count on one hand” the number of people who could be said to have “had an equally profound impact on our development – in every way.”

They added that in music, “even fewer people have done it continuously for decades” and “will continue to do it as long as we live” – claiming Phil was a “gift” to the Dead.

The statement continued: “We won’t say we’ll miss him, because in this moment, nothing we do will be without the lessons he taught us – and the lessons that will come as the conversation continues. “

Born in Berkeley, California, Phil met his future Dead bandmate Jerry Garcia in 1962 at a party in Menlo Park.

In 1965, Phil, Jerry, Bill, Bob and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan played their first show under the name The Warlocks, and by the end of the year the group became known as The Grateful Dead – often called The Dead by their army of dedicated Deadhead followers. .

Together, the band released 13 studio albums, as well as dozens of live albums, with Mickey Hart joining as drummer in 1967.

Pianist Ron died in 1973, and over the years the group featured various members, including keyboardist Brent Mydland, before the band disbanded in 1995 following Jerry’s death at the age of 53 that same year.