Grateful Useless bassist and co-founder Phil Lesh has died on the age of 84. In line with an announcement from his household, the musician “handed peacefully this morning (Oct. 25). He was surrounded by his household and full of affection. Phil introduced immense pleasure to everybody round him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you simply respect the Lesh household’s privateness at the moment.”
No trigger was offered, though Lesh had a liver transplant in 1998 to fight hepatitis C and battled each prostate and bladder most cancers over time.
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Lesh met his future Useless bandmate Jerry Garcia within the Bay Space in 1959 and, together with guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Invoice Kreutzmann, was a key contributor from day one amid their early experiments with LSD and associations with Ken Kesey’s acid assessments in late ‘60s San Francisco; the flip towards Americana and recording of the Workingman’s Useless and American Magnificence albums within the early ‘70s; the years spent on the highway honing what was arguably the best dwell rock present in American historical past; the pop-cultural explosion of “Contact of Gray” in 1987 and the chaos and hedonism that adopted the band within the ‘80s and ‘90s; and the sluggish, heartbreaking battles with sickness and habit that characterised Garcia’s closing years earlier than his 1995 loss of life.
Lengthy a proponent of the band’s LSD-fueled jams, Lesh co-wrote or sang lead on such Useless favorites as “Field of Rain,” “Unbroken Chain,” “St. Stephen,” “Truckin’” and “Cumberland Blues.” After the band wound down following Garcia’s passing, Lesh carried out and toured continually below the moniker Phil Lesh and Mates and was a staple of the jam band competition circuit.
Lesh’s closing on-stage efficiency was on July 21 in San Rafael, Ca., when he and the Mates performed an almost song-for-song recreation of the Useless’s efficiency on the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles from precisely 50 years prior.
The information of his loss of life comes simply days after the Useless had been named Kennedy Middle honorees in addition to MusiCares Individuals of the 12 months for 2025.
“I used to be deeply saddened to listen to that my pal Phil Lesh handed away this morning,” reads an Instagram publish from Phish’s Trey Anastasio, who performed with Lesh usually over time. “Phil was greater than a revolutionary, groundbreaking bass participant—he remodeled how I thought of music as a young person. I’ve numerous recollections of standing in awe, listening to his winding, eloquent bass strains mixing seamlessly with Jerry and Bobby’s guitars, Brent Mydland’s keys and the thunderous drums of Billy and Mickey. I’m so grateful for these lovely recollections.”
Added longtime collaborator Warren Haynes, “there’s a complete sort of music fan and a complete sort of musician that exists as a result of one thing that Phil helped create. I all the time considered myself as that sort of fan and that sort of musician however I can say I used to be introduced into that world full power by a easy cellphone name I acquired from Phil within the late 90’s inviting me to affix him for what at the moment was simply gonna be a couple of exhibits and become a long time of taking part in music collectively. I discovered an untold quantity from Phil and we shared an incredible quantity of musical pleasure on stage within the numerous instances we performed collectively. It was by him that I used to be launched to a variety of what would turn into my favourite musical collaborators.”
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