The Bay Area Deadheads mourn the founding bassist of the Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, hours after his death and celebrate his memory with songs, stories and more.

Lesh died on Friday, October 25, at the age of 84. The cause of death was not revealed. A statement from his management said he was “surrounded by his family and full of love” in his final moments.

Fans in San Francisco quickly erected a small memorial at the band's former Victorian home at 710 Ashbury on Friday afternoon, threading single red roses through the apartment building's gate.

“I just left my house and walked here because I instinctively felt like I had to,” said longtime fan Erin Fulfer outside the house. Fulfer said that as she walked, she heard “Box of Rain,” the group’s 1970 track that was inspired by the death of Lesh’s father. The Dead's connection to the Haight and Ashbury inspired them to move to the neighborhood 30 years ago.

“As a bass player, he was almost in the background, but as part of the band you could just feel his care, just the love,” she said of Lesh, who also composed music for some of the band's most popular songs. “I think he’s definitely with Jerry (Garcia). They’re jamming, laughing and probably doing some of the fun stuff they used to do at 710 (Ashbury Street).”

Also outside the house was 21-year-old Katherine Lopez, who was sad that she never had the opportunity to see Lesh live.

“It feels like a huge loss to the community here,” she said, noting that although she felt younger than many Grateful Dead fans, she was moved to pay her respects and “take ownership of something to remember something I wasn’t actually involved in.”

Two blocks away, on the sidewalk at Haight and Masonic, a ring of red and white roses and candles framed a previously painted heart with Phil Lesh's name on it.

Across the street, a Psychedelic SF employee who called himself Magic paid his respects to the late bassist by listening to a playlist of Grateful Dead songs Lesh wrote.

“It was so sad to get the news today – it’s just starting to sink in,” the 52-year-old said. “What a great loss…he gave us so much.”

Magic said he was a Deadhead most of his life and recalled moving from Miami to San Francisco in 1987 to follow the band. He met Lesh in person about five years ago, he said, and keeps a framed photo of the encounter in which Lesh grins and points to his T-shirt that says “Make America Grateful Dead Again.”

“He was a great inspiration to be a good, kind-hearted person,” he said.

In keeping with that legacy, the Counterculture Museum, expected to open in 2025 at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, is expanding its plans to honor the Grateful Dead.

Lifelong Deadhead Brian Hassett has been assisting the museum in curating artifacts for this portion of the space and was devastated to hear the news of Lesh's death.

Hassett noted that Lesh's most unique quality as an artist was the way he formed Phil Lesh & Friends with a different ensemble at each performance.

“He was like the bandleader for literally 100 different musicians,” said Hassett, 63. “It’s this beautiful, generous thing that he did. … Nobody does that. I can't imagine any composer or musician of any genre who would be so generous with their stage and include all these different (artists).”

Local Deadheads who couldn't drive to the Haight Friday afternoon felt Lesh's loss just as hard.

Joe Cañas, 29, has been performing in the Grateful Dead cover band Jerry and the Jerks for a year and was at work when he heard the news of Lesh's death.

“One of our heroes has passed away and someone we pay attention to and someone who is like a local legend,” he said. “Not just any music hero, but someone who grew up on the same streets as us.”

Cañas, who grew up in Sacramento and San Jose, said he has been a Deadhead since 2016. He is grateful to have seen Lesh perform live in San Francisco on several occasions, from Warfield to the Stern Grove Festival.

“We all have some relationship with this person, even without knowing them personally,” he said.

Eric Epstein, 23, also watched Lesh's Stern Gove show in 2022. He recalled seeing the bassist perform with his son Grahame while watching in the crowd with his own father, who introduced him to the music of the Grateful Dead while he was at school.

“Dead culture is so pervasive, even among people my age, there are so many bands playing their music and there are so many really passionate fans,” Epstein said. “I know it will always be there for me.”

Mayor London Breed posted on

Lesh's last live performance was a Phil Lesh and Friends concert in San Rafael on July 21, which was preceded by his penultimate performance at the Warfield in San Francisco on May 9. On August 18, the group took the stage again, but Lesh was missing from the lineup and was replaced by San Grisman, the son of Garcia's longtime collaborator David Grisman.

Lesh was the oldest and one of the longest surviving members of the Grateful Dead, which disbanded shortly after Garcia's death in 1995, and had overcome a series of health challenges, from prostate and bladder cancer to a liver transplant. The band's original lineup included Garcia as lead singer and guitarist, Lesh as bassist, Bob Weir as rhythm guitarist, Bill Kreutzmann on drums and Ron “Pigmen” McKernan on keyboards and harmonica. Mickey Hart joined as drummer in 1967, two years after the band's formation, and Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist in 1979. Many members contributed vocals.

“I feel like I survived the whole thing because I wasn’t done yet. It wasn't my time. My karma was not fully recognized. “Hopefully I’m on the path I’m supposed to be on now,” Lesh told the Chronicle in 2002.

Beyond the Bay Area, fans around the world paid their respects online.

The Grateful Dead shared a message honoring Lesh on Friday night, noting that they had “lost a brother.”

“Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. “In a note from the Phil Zone you could hear and feel how the world was born,” the band posted on Instagram. “We can count on one hand the people who we can say have had an equally profound impact on our development – in every way. And there have been even fewer people who have done this consistently over the decades and will continue to do so for as long as we live.”

The post was signed “Mickey, Billy and Bobby.”

Garcia's family also shared a statement on Instagram.

“His life’s work is a beacon for all of humanity and will continue to guide countless generations of musicians into the backbone of the beat,” the post says. “There are no words to fully express the impact he made with his music and his incredible spirit.”

“PS say hello to Jerry,” it concludes.

John Mayer, who plays guitar and provides lead vocals for Grateful Dead offshoot Dead & Company, shared the post on Instagram.

Trey Anastasio of the rock band Phish also shared a message honoring Lesh on social media.

“Phil was more than a revolutionary, groundbreaking bassist – he changed the way I thought about music as a teenager,” wrote Anastasio, who performed with Lesh at the band’s “Fare Thee Well” shows in 2015, filling in for the late Garcia. “I have countless memories of standing in awe and listening to his sinuous, eloquent bass lines blending seamlessly with the guitars of Jerry and Bobby, the keys of Brent Mydland, and the thundering drums of Billy and Mickey.”

Maliya Ellis contributed to this story.

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