Phil Lesh, one of the founding members of the rock band Grateful Dead, has passed away.

He was 84.

“Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time,” an announcement on his Instagram page read.

Page Six reports:

An official cause of death has not been revealed at this time, and his rep did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.

However, Lesh shared in 2015 that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

He said via a Facebook post at the time that he felt “very fortunate” that his pathology reports showed his tumors were “non-aggressive” and that there had been no indication that the cancer spread.

The “Terrapin Station” rocker shared he had been seeking treatment for two weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and would eventually be undergoing surgery to remove the tumors.

He also previously survived prostate cancer and had a liver transplant in 1998 due to the debilitating effects of a hepatitis C infection and years of heavy drinking.

Per BBC:

The psychedelic band, which formed in California in 1965, split 30 years later following the death of frontman Jerry Garcia.

Lesh was with them from the beginning – and also joined the group’s other surviving members for reunion US tour in 2003 and a final series of concerts in 2015.

Lesh’s Instagram account said that he “brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”

With a distinctive trippy blend of rock, folk, and jazz, The Grateful Dead are arguably one of the most influential bands in American history, and wrote the soundtrack for the countercultural generation of the sixties.

Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, in 1940. He started out as a violin player before switching to trumpet, and later to bass guitar when he joined The Grateful Dead in 1965.

For the next three decades his improvisational skills complemented the melodies of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and bandmates Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.

The Grateful Dead was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

“No band embodied the psychedelic rock era’s mind-expanding, counterculture vibe better than the Grateful Dead. During marathon concerts marked by communal, peaceful atmospheres, the San Francisco troupe combined traditional genres such as folk, bluegrass and roots with experimental, freewheeling musical excursions,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame wrote.

 

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