The other official members of the band are Tom Constanten (keyboards 1968–1970), John Perry Barlow (nonperforming lyricist 1971–1995), Keith Godchaux (keyboards 1971–1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals 1972–1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards, vocals 1979–1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards, vocals 1990–1995).

With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who took time off from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. Drummer Mickey Hart and non-performing lyricist Robert Hunter joined in 1967. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead he replaced Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. Members of the Grateful Dead had played together in various San Francisco bands, including Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and the Warlocks. The founding members were Jerry Garcia (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s. The Grateful Dead have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and a recording of their performance at Cornell University's Barton Hall was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2012. The band was ranked 57th by Rolling Stone magazine in its The Greatest Artists of All Time issue. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, gospel, and psychedelic rock for live performances of lengthy instrumental jams and for its devoted fan base, known as 'Deadheads.' 'Their music,' writes Lenny Kaye, 'touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists.' These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead 'the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world'. The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, Califor… Read Full Bio ↴ The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California.

Grateful dead space lyrics