RIP, Donna Jean Godchaux, the Grateful Dead’s Only Female Member
- Donna Jean Godchaux, a celebrated session singer and the Grateful Dead’s sole female member, has died at 78.
- Her career spanned Muscle Shoals sessions, backing Elvis and Percy Sledge, and singing with the Dead through the 1970s.
- She and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
- Her family asks for privacy, remembering her as a warm spirit and quoting Robert Hunter’s blessing.
It has been a heavy year for rock fans, and now we’ve lost another voice from that golden era. Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay passed away in Nashville after a battle with cancer; she was 78. News of her death was confirmed by her family and reported widely, including in the AP.
Donna Jean brought a soulful mezzo presence to sessions in Muscle Shoals and Memphis before joining the Grateful Dead. Her background included high-profile backing work on classic tracks and sessions with major artists, giving her a rare pedigree when she joined the Dead in 1971. She and pianist husband Keith Godchaux were fixtures in the band’s 1970s era.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a soulful mezzo-soprano who provided backing vocals on such 1960s classics as “Suspicious Minds” and “When a Man Loves a Woman” and was a featured singer with the Grateful Dead for much of the 1970s, has died at 78.
A spokesperson for Godchaux-MacKay confirmed that she died Sunday at Alive Hospice in Nashville after having cancer. Godchaux-McKay and other Grateful Dead members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, she had yet to turn 20 when she became a session performer in nearby Muscle Shoals, where many soul and rhythm and blues hits were recorded, and also was on hand for numerous sessions at the Memphis-based American Sound Studio. Her credits included Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and songs with Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, and Cher.
Her family released a short statement asking for privacy and sharing a simple, heartfelt line from Robert Hunter. They wrote that she was “a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit,” united in loss. The family requested privacy as they grieve.
She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, 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.”
Donna and Keith performed with the Grateful Dead from 1971 until 1979, and her voice fit the band’s wandering, soulful palette. Before and alongside that work she was a sought-after session singer on landmark tracks. The band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame highlights the cultural footprint they left.
Here are a couple of samples of her great vocals from her time with the Grateful Dead; first, from the 1977 rock-opera album Terrapin Station, comes the stand-alone song, Sunrise.
And, from the 1978 album Shakedown Street, comes From The Heart of Me:
Personal memories matter in moments like this; many fans remember discovering her voice on Terrapin Station and hearing something new in the mix. For some listeners, her vocals brought a soulful clarity to the Dead’s sprawling sound. Those memories are why her passing resonates beyond obituary pages.
After leaving the Grateful Dead with Keith in 1979 to pursue other projects, tragedy struck when Keith died in an automobile accident in 1980. Donna later married bassist David MacKay and continued making music with projects like Donna Jean and the Tricksters. She is survived by her husband David MacKay, her sons Kinsman MacKay and Zion Godchaux, and her siblings Gogi Clark and Ivan Thatcher.
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