Overview
- Godchaux-MacKay died on Nov. 2 at Alive Hospice in Nashville after a lengthy struggle with cancer, according to a family statement relayed by representative Dennis McNally.
- She sang with the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979, appearing on Europe ’72, Wake of the Flood, Terrapin Station and other landmark releases.
- Before joining the band, she was a Muscle Shoals session vocalist whose backing vocals featured on No. 1 hits including Percy Sledge’s When a Man Loves a Woman and Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds.
- After departing the Dead, she and husband Keith Godchaux formed the Heart of Gold Band; Keith died in a 1980 car accident, and she later led projects including Donna Jean and the Tricksters, with her last studio release in 2014.
- Survivors include her husband David MacKay, sons Kinsman MacKay and Zion Godchaux, and other immediate family, with the family statement quoting Robert Hunter’s line, “May the four winds blow her safely home.”