Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, longtime featured vocalist for the Grateful Dead and a fixture of 1960s and 1970s rock, died Sunday at age 78. Godchaux, who joined the Dead in 1971 alongside her husband and keyboardist Keith Godchaux, passed away Sunday at a hospice in Nashville following a lengthy battle with cancer, according to a family statement shared with Rolling Stone. "She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss," the statement reads, adding a line from Dead lyricist Robert Hunter: "May the four winds blow her safely home."
Before joining the Grateful Dead, Godchaux was already an established session singer in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Her credits include backing vocals on some of the era's most recognizable tracks, such as Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" and Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds." She also contributed to recordings by Duane Allman, Cher, Neil Diamond, and Boz Scaggs. She went on to become the only woman to join the Dead's lineup, reports USA Today, which refers to her as the band's "first lady." Along with other Grateful Dead members, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the AP reports.
During her time with the Dead, Godchaux's vocals became a defining element of the band's sound throughout the 1970s. She performed on albums including Europe '72, Wake of the Flood, and Terrapin Station, and was featured in many of the group's storied live performances, such as the 1977 Cornell show and their 1978 concerts at Egypt's Giza pyramid. She and Keith Godchaux also released albums together, and Godchaux later formed her own group. She last recorded an album in 2014. She married bassist David MacKay in 1981 following Keith Godchaux's death, and is survived by two sons, Kinsman MacKay and Zion Godchaux, who formed the musical group BoomBox.
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