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About Phil Lesh

Phil Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, on March 15, 1940. Before spending a 30-year stint as the bassist for the legendary band the Grateful Dead, he had a more classical beginning. His beginnings were embedded in jazz and classical composition, in which he took an initial interest in instruments such as the violin and trumpet. He attended Mills College in San Francisco, where he studied composition and electric music. His life changed in 1965, when Phil Lesh joined his friend Jerry Garcia in his band, the Warlocks. Soon after joining the group, Phil Lesh informed the other members of the band that he had encountered another band with the same name. The next year the band had changed their name to the now much more familiar Grateful Dead.

The Grateful Dead is one of the most influential bands in the history of music. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Phil Lesh played a huge role in the band's success, innovatively finding different ways to play the bass, giving fans a new way of experiencing music by changing the bass from just an instrument that helped keep the beat of a song and turning it into one of the most crucial sounds of the band. Phil Lesh helped to contribute some of the most beloved songs the Grateful Dead ever produced, including songs like Box of Rain and Unbroken Chain. His studies in new and unique music at Mills College gave the Grateful Dead the ability to change their sound and venture into different types of music. Phil Lesh's time with the band ended in 1995 when his friend and bandmate Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack.

Since Garcia's death, Phil Lesh has not slowed down. He continues to keep a close eye on the recordings of the Grateful Dead, as well as be part of different bands along the way. In 1998, he reunited with other members of the Grateful Dead to form the Other Ones, which headlined 1998's Further Festival. Currently, Phil Lesh tours with his own band Phil Lesh and Friends. The band has consisted of a rotation of members from different bands, including the Allman Brothers, the Dead, the Zen Tricksters and Gov't Mule.