Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux has died, age 78
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a key member of the Grateful Dead throughout the 1970s, has died aged 78 after a long struggle with cancer.
Prior to hooking up with the Dead, Alabama native Donna Jean Thatcher was a Muscle Shoals session singer during the late ’60s, recording with the likes of Percy Sledge, Duane Allman, Joe Tex, Neil Diamond and RB Greaves. Over at American Sound in Memphis, meanwhile, she appeared on Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto”.
She left the South for San Francisco in 1970, soon meeting (and marrying) pianist Keith Godchaux and encountering Jerry Garcia. It was Donna Godchaux’s persistence (“I told Jerry that Keith needed to be in the band!”) that led to her husband joining the Dead in October 1971. Shortly afterwards, Godchaux herself was invited in.
The couple made their mark on the following year’s European tour, where, according to bassist Phil Lesh, the music became “warmer and more organic.” Blessed with a mezzo-soprano range, Godchaux can subsequently be heard on the run of albums that spanned Europe ’72 and 1978’s Shakedown Street. The Godchauxs also found time to record Keith & Donna in 1975.
They quit the Dead in 1979, returning to Alabama to form the Heart Of Gold Band. Keith’s sudden death in 1980 resulted in Godchaux easing back on her music career for a time, though she returned as head of various bands from the late ‘90s onwards. Her most recent release was 2014’s Back Around, which included a version of the Dead’s “Crazy Fingers.”
Paying tribute, the remaining Dead members noted of Godchaux: “Her unmistakable voice and radiant spirit touched the lives of countless fans and immeasurably enriched the Grateful Dead family. Her contributions will forever remain part of the tapestry that continues to be woven.”
Added Bob Weir: “She blazed a path in music many aspire to follow. In her quiet, unassuming way she’ll be goin’ for it, even though there may not even be words for what 𝘪𝘵 is – how she always was…”
It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Donna Jean Godchaux. Her unmistakable voice and radiant spirit touched the lives of countless fans and immeasurably enriched the Grateful Dead family. Her contributions will forever remain part of the tapestry that continues to be… pic.twitter.com/tVHMURwYcA
