Garcia Family Pays Tribute to Phil Lesh: ‘Say Hi to Jerry’
The family of Jerry Garcia, the lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, paid tribute to his fellow co-founder Phil Lesh, who died on Friday at the age of 84.
In a statement shared to social media, Garcia’s family said that they were “devastated to learn of Phil’s passage to the next life.”
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“We will miss his sharply dry humor, wry smiles and brilliant insights,” they wrote. “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. There are no words to fully express the impact he made with his music and his incredible mind.” Their letter ended with a message for Garcia: “P.S. say hi to Jerry.”
Lesh and Garcia’s friendship spanned three decades, beginning from when the band was known as the Warlocks until Lesh joined, replacing Dana Morgan Jr., and it was renamed to the Grateful Dead. When Garcia died in 1995, Lesh continued to keep the band’s legacy alive through various forms of the group with former members and in several iterations of Phil Lesh and Friends.
“Jerry was the hub,” Lesh told Rolling Stone. “We were the spokes. And the music was the tread on the wheel.”
The pair met in 1959 at a Bay Area house party and again after a 1964 Warlocks gig. Garcia invited Lesh to join the band on bass guitar, an instrument he had never played. The following year, Lesh performed at his first show with the Warlocks at the Bikini A-Go-Go in Hayward, California.
In the family’s statement Friday, they wrote, “We are eternally grateful and hope everyone joins us in wishing him a wondrous and peaceful voyage to the great beyond. Thank you Phil! May your blessed cosmic cerebral beats play on.”
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