Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a vocalist for the Grateful Dead during the 1970s and backup singer for Elvis Presley and Percy Sledge, has died at the age of 78.
Godchaux-MacKay passed away on Sunday after a lengthy struggle with cancer, according to a statement. She died at Alive Hospice in Nashville. “She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss,” the statement reads. “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.’”
The singer was best known for her tenure with the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979 alongside her then-husband, keyboardist Keith Godchaux. During that time, she appeared on seven of the band’s albums, bookended by the triple-record live set “Europe ‘72” and 1978’s disco-friendly “Shakedown Street,” providing gospel-influenced harmonies, as well as the occasional lead vocal on songs like “Sunrise” from 1977’s “Terrapin Station” and live covers of Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and the Dolly Parton-penned “Tomorrow is Forever.”
In addition to her tenure in groups including Keith and Donna Godchaux and the Heart of Gold Band, she performed on hits including Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and also appeared on records from Cher, Boz Scaggs and Grateful co-founder Bob Weir.
Godchaux was a divisive figure among Grateful Dead devotees — many fans were frankly outright disdainful of her presence on stage. Her high-pitched timbre often sounded out of place with the band’s folksy-rootsy sound. Her tenure with the band also coincided with a period of post-1960s transition and some personal strife behind the scenes among band members.
Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, Godchaux-MacKay worked as a session singer in Muscle Shoals before moving to California in 1970, where she married Keith Godchaux. Following her stint in the Grateful Dead, Keith died in a 1980 car accident, leading her to take a temporary hiatus from music. She released albums as part of the Ghosts and the Heart of Gold Band in the 1980s, and married bassist David MacKay, moving back to Florence to record at Muscle Shoals. Throughout the following decades, she put out music with the Donna Jean Band and Donna Jean and the Tricksters.
Godchaux-MacKay is survived by her husband David, her son Kinsman MacKay and his wife Molly, her son Zion Godchaux and his son Delta, her sister Gogi Clark, and her brother Ivan Thatcher.
More to come…
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