Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a singer who spent the ’70s singing with the iconic rock band Grateful Dead, has passed away. She was 78 years old.
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In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Godchaux-MacKay’s rep, Dennis McNally, revealed the singer passed away at a hospice facility in Nashville, Tennessee, following a “lengthy struggle with cancer.”
“She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit,” McNally stated. “And all those who knew her are united in loss. 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.'”
Born in August of 1947, Godchaux-MacKay joined the Grateful Dead in 1971 alongside her husband, Keith Godchaux, who played keyboards. Her vocals are notably featured in the band’s albums Europe ’72, Wake of the Flood, and Terrapin Station. She stayed with the Grateful Dead until early 1979. She played her final show with the group on February 17 of that year. Keith also left the group at the same time.
Donna and Keith also released an album together in 1975. However, years later, Keith suddenly passed away after he sustained massive head injuries in an auto accident while being driven home on his 32nd birthday. He was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994.
The couple shared one child, Zion.
She married her second husband, bassist David MacKay, shortly after Keith’s passing. They had a son, Kinsman MacKay. The couple remained together until her death.
Both her sons are musicians.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay Once Spoke About What Drew Her to Music
During a 2016 interview with AL.com, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay opened up about what drew her to music to begin with.
“I was singing from pretty much as soon as I could talk,” she explained. “I remember very distinctly when I was 6 years old, I knew I was going to be a singer and I would sit out on my back porch and sing on the top of my lungs every day.”
She further noted that working with Elvis Presley on his 1969 single “Suspicious Minds” was “one of the most amazing times” of her life. She said that Presley was “so kind to us and encouraging and complimentary… And he looked great. I’m telling you, he was the most gorgeous human being I’ve ever seen.”