Grateful Dead Cofounder Phil Lesh Dead At 84 (2024 In Review)

01-04-2025

The death of Grateful Dead legend and cofounder Phil Lesh on October 26th was a top 24 story of October 2024. The 84 year-old bassist and vocalist was also the leader of Phil Lesh and Friends, as well as a member of The Other Ones and The Dead.

The sad news was shared to fans via the official Grateful Dead platforms. They wrote on Facebook, "Today we lost a brother. Our hearts and love go out to Jill Lesh, Brian and Grahame. Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. In one note from the Phil Zone, you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river would flow. It went where the muse took it. He was an explorer of inner and outer space who just happened to play bass. He was a circumnavigator of formerly unknown musical worlds. And more.

"We can count on the fingers of one hand the people we can say had as profound an influence on our development - in every sense. And there have been even less people who did so continuously over the decades and will continue to for as long as we live. What a gift he was for us. We won't say he will be missed, as in any given moment, nothing we do will be without the lessons he taught us - and the lessons that are yet to come, as the conversations will go on.
Phil loved the Dead Heads and always kept them in his heart and mind. The thing is... Phil was so much more than a virtuoso bass player, a composer, a family man, a cultural icon...

"There will be a lot of tributes, and they will all say important things. But for us, we've spent a lifetime making music with Phil Lesh and the music has a way of saying it all. So listen to the Grateful Dead and, in that way, we'll all take a little bit of Phil with us, forever.

"For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago....- Mickey, Billy and Bobby"

Lesh's official Facebook also shared, "Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family's privacy at this time."