Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead co-founder and bassist, dead at 84

Phil Lesh, one of the founding members of the rock band Grateful Dead, has died. He was 84.

“Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning,” an announcement shared on the late musician’s Instagram Friday reads.

“He was surrounded by his family and full of love.”

The post, which featured a photo of Lesh playing his bass onstage, honored him for bringing “immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love.”

The tribute concluded, “We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”

Phil Lesh has died. He was 84. Getty Images A statement, seen here, on Lesh’s Instagram account shared he died surrounded by family. phillesh/Instagram

An official cause of death has not been revealed at this time, and his rep did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

However, Lesh shared in 2015 that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

He said via a Facebook post at the time that he felt “very fortunate” that his pathology reports showed his tumors were “non-aggressive” and that there had been no indication that the cancer spread.

The “Terrapin Station” rocker shared he had been seeking treatment for two weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and would eventually be undergoing surgery to remove the tumors.

Since the announcement of Lesh’s death, several friends and fans have posted tributes online.

An official cause of death has not yet been disclosed. AP The rocker announced in 2015 that he was battling cancer. Adam Nemser/startraksphoto.com

One person commented on Instagram, “Thank you Phil. Say hi to Jerry for me 🥀,” referencing the late Grateful Dead lead guitarist and vocalist Jerry Garcia, who died of a heart attack in 1995.

Journalist Ron Lieber added, “A joker, a prankster, a thunder-bomb thrower, a rainmaker, a box builder, a headband wearer, a rocker of tie-dyes, a weaver of chains, broken and unbroken, already on the four winds and probably safely home at that. His memory is a blessing.”

Lesh co-founded Grateful Dead in 1965 along with Garcia, vocalist and guitarist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and keyboard and harmonica player Bob Weir and drummer Bill Kreutzmann.

The group was known for infusing elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, psychedelia and other genres into their music. Their devoted fandom is known as the “Deadheads.”

Lesh was the bassist and one of the founding members of Grateful Dead. Getty Images He and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Everett/Shutterstock

After Garcia died, other iterations of the band were formed, including Dead & Company, which just played their final show in July 2023.

However, Lesh was not a part of that group and instead toured with Phil Lesh and Friends alongside a rotating group of musicians from 1998 to 2000. He also played with the Phil Lesh Quartet from 2000 to 2003.

In 1994, Lesh and other Grateful Dead members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.