Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead bassist and founding member, dies at 84
Grateful Dead founding member and bassist Phil Lesh died Friday morning, according to a post on his official Instagram account.
Grateful Dead founding member and bassist Phil Lesh died Friday morning, according to a post on his official Instagram account.
The California native and rock legend was 84.
Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead performing in Nashville, Tenn. on June 2, 2021.Keith Griner / Getty ImagesLesh "passed peacefully" while surrounded by family, according to the post to his Instagram.
“Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love,” the post read. “We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Lesh was born and raised in a center of postwar counterculture, Berkeley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he started his music journey by learning to play the classical violin. He traded the violin for the trumpet and created sounds inspired by German electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen and American minimal music proponent Steve Reich.
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