Recommendations of the Editorial team
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, who sang with the Grateful Dead in the 1970s, was a backing singer on several 1960s classics and led her own bands, died at the age of 78.
Career with the Grateful Dead
Godchaux died on Sunday, November 2, at a hospice facility in Nashville after a “long battle with cancer,” according to a statement obtained by ROLLING STONE. “She was a sweet and warm spirit, and all who knew her are united in grief. The family requests privacy at this time of farewell,” it continued. “In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter: ‘May the four winds carry them home safely.'”
Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead in 1971 with her keyboardist husband Keith. Her voice was a central element in the band’s formative period during the ’70s and can be heard on albums such as Europe ’72, Wake of the Flood and Terrapin Station – as well as countless legendary live recordings, including the famous Cornell ’77 concert and the Dead’s September 1978 shows at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Before joining the Dead, Godchaux worked as a sought-after studio singer in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. She was involved in hits like Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” and also sang on songs by Duane Allman, Cher, Neil Diamond and Boz Scaggs.
Own projects and later years
Together with Keith, Donna Godchaux released several albums – both under their own names and as the Heart of Gold Band. She later led her own group, alternately called Donna Jean and the Tricksters and the Donna Jean Godchaux Band. Her last studio album, a collaboration with musician Jeff Mattson, was released in 2014.