Phil Lesh, bassist and founder of the Grateful Dead, dies at the age of 84 – FBC News

(Source: Reuters)

Phil Lesh, the founder of the Grateful Dead whose nuanced bass playing made him the architect of the band’s otherworldly sound, died Friday at the age of 84, his Instagram account said.

Tributes are pouring in from the music world, and New York’s Empire State Building said it will illuminate the skyscraper in tie-dye colors to honor a member of the psychedelic band known for long improvisations during live performances, which attracted devoted “Dead Head” fans known to travel with concert to concert.

According to the Instagram post, he died peacefully, surrounded by his family.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lesh the 11th greatest bassist of all time, although he also sang backing vocals and backing vocals. Many fans considered him as influential as the band’s frontman Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

“His idea – ‘play bass and lead at the same time,’ his notes running in and around the melody – became as recognizable a part of the Dead’s sound as Garcia’s guitar,” he told Rolling Stone.

“Phil was more than a revolutionary, groundbreaking bassist – he changed the way I thought about music as a teenager,” Phish lead guitarist Trey Anastasio wrote on Instagram.

Formed in California in 1965, The Dead rose to prominence during the 1967 San Francisco Summer of Love, a counterculture movement that advocated peace, love, and hallucinogenic drugs.

But the Dead’s music endured much longer as a mix of rock, folk, country and jazz.

After Garcia’s death, longtime players Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart formed various lineups under the name Dead & Company, while Lesh chose to instead form Phil Lesh and Friends, which played until 2023.

Philip Chapman Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, on March 15, 1940, and began playing classical violin before moving on to play trumpet in a “cool jazz” big band, according to his official Dead biography.

He later studied with experimental Italian composer Luciano Berio before his friend Garcia told him in 1965 that he was the new bassist for the Warlocks, Garcia’s band that was a precursor to the Grateful Dead.

Lesh replied, “Why not?”

Lesh is survived by his wife, Jill Lesh, and two sons, Grahame and Brian.