Former Grateful Dead Vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay Dies at 78

Former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, 78, died in a hospice facility in Nashville on Sunday (Nov. 2) following a long battle with cancer according to Rolling Stone. After a successful stint as a session singer at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama where she sang backup on Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 songs by Percy Sledge (“When a Man Loves a Woman”) and Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds”), Godchaux-MacKay joined the Grateful Dead in San Francisco along with then-husband keyboardist Keith Godchaux, touring and performing with the band from 1971-1979.

“She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss,” read the statement about her death shared with RS. “The family requests privacy at this time of grieving. In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, ‘May the four winds blow her safely home.’”

Donna Jean Thatcher was born in Florence, Ala. on Aug. 22, 1947 and began her decades-long music career as a member of the band Southern Comfort before moving on to session work, appearing on No. 1 songs by Sledge and Presley, as well as singing backup on sessions with Cher, Joe Tex, Duane Allman, Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs and others before moving to the Bay Area and meeting Godchaux.

The couple got married in 1970 and both joined the Dead a year later, with Godchaux singing lead and backing vocals and Keith slipping into the spot formerly held by late band co-founder keyboardist/singer Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. The couple appeared on a string of the group’s classic 1970s albums, including 1973’s Wake of the Flood, 1974’s From the Mars Hotel and 1975’s Blues For Allah, on which Godchaux stepped up from the background to provide a co-lead vocal on “The Music Never Stopped” and the LP’s title suite.

She also appeared on 1976’s Steal Your Face and 1977’s Terrapin Station, where her powerful mezzo-soprano soared on the band’s disco-jam cover of Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street,” on which she shared the mic with guitarist/singer Bob Weir. She also took lead vocal duties and is credited with co-writing several songs on that album, including the gauzy ballad “Sunrise.” She took lead and composed the loose folky jam “From the Heart of Me” from the Dead’s beloved 1978 Shakedown Street LP, where she also shared vocals on “France” with Weir.

It would be the last Dead LP the Godchaux’s would appear on, though they were also key members of the legendarily road dog band’s 1970s touring ensemble before their departure in 1979, appearing on such beloved bootlegs as the 1977 Cornell University gig and the band’s 1978 shows at the Giza Pyramid in Egypt.

In addition to playing with the band, Donna also released music with husband Keith during their tenure, including 1975’s Keith & Donna duo effort, which in addition to their singing and playing features contributions from late Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia on almost all the tracks. The couple also performed as part of Garcia’s side project, the Jerry Garcia Band, from 1976-1978 and formed their own side project, The Ghosts (later the Heart of Gold Band); Keith Godchaux, 32, died from injuries in a car accident in July 1980 shortly after the couple’s first concert together.

Donna Godchaux continued releasing solo music under the names The Donna Jean Band and Donna Jean and the Tricksters and issued her final studio album in 2014, Back Around, credited to the Donna Jean Godchaux Band with contributions from Zen Tricksters guitarist Jeff Mattson.

Godchaux was not a part of more recent tours and special anniversary concerts by the Grateful Dead’s various lineups under the names The Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur and Dead & Company. She did, however, make what would be one of her final appearances with the group at the Bonnaroo Festival on June 12, 2016, performing on the songs “Fire on the Mountain,” “Berth,” “Bird Song,” “Playing in the Band,” “Terrapin Station” and “Touch of Grey.” She also sat in for two other shows that summer, at Citi Field in New York in late June and Fenway Park in Boston in July.

Check out some of Godchuax’s performances below.