Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Grateful Dead Singer During the 1970s, Dies
by Jeff Tamarkin
The Grateful Dead backstage in 1977 (l. to r.): Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Keith Godchaux, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Donna Jean Godchaux (Photo by Peter Simon)
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, who sang with the Grateful Dead during most of the 1970s, has died. The only female member of the storied San Francisco band, Godchaux-MacKay, who was 78, died in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 2, 2025, following a long battle with cancer.
Her family posted the following statement on social media:
“Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, former vocalist with the Grateful Dead, passed away surrounded by her family on November 2, 2025, at Alive Hospice in Nashville after a lengthy struggle with cancer.”
Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, on Aug. 22, 1947, the singer, known as Donna Godchaux during her tenure with the Dead, began her career as a session vocalist, singing backup on two #1 hits, Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Her vocals were also featured on recordings by artists such as Boz Scaggs, Cher, Joe Tex, Neil Diamond and many others.
After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970, she met and married pianist Keith Godchaux and, after taking in a concert by the Grateful Dead, convinced Jerry Garcia to audition her husband. Garcia was impressed and agreed that Keith would make a fine pianist for the Dead, who were without a full-time pianist at the time. Keith made his live debut with the band in the fall of 1971.
Related: Our review of the Grateful Dead’s Wake of the Flood album
The following year, Donna began singing background and harmonies with the Dead, and began contributing vocals to the group’s albums as well. Fulfilling the vocal parts previously offered by bassist Phil Lesh, she remained primarily in a supporting role to the group’s main singers, Garcia and Bob Weir, although at times she did sing lead vocals, on songs such as her own composition “Sunrise,” on 1977’s Terrapin Station album, and the band’s cover of Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough.”
In addition to her work with the Dead, Donna Jean recorded an album, simply titled Keith and Donna, with her husband in 1975; the couple also moonlighted as members of Garcia’s solo band during their time with the Dead.
In 1979, Keith and Donna left the Dead and formed the Heart of Gold Band. Shortly after their debut gig in 1980, Keith died in an auto accident. Donna returned to the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, area, where she married bassist David MacKay. She continued to perform with him in subsequent years and recorded sporadically with various bands, including the Donna Jean Godchaux Band. Godchaux-MacKay was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead in 1994.
Grateful Dead recordings, including many with Donna Jean Godchaux, are available here.
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