Grateful Dead and Muscle Shoals backup singer was 78

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame backup singer for the Grateful Dead in the 1970s who also sang on No. 1 hits by Elvis Presley and Percy Sledge, appeared in Muscle Shoals sessions and fronted her own bands, died Sunday of cancer at a Nashville hospice. She was 78 years old.

Her rep Dennis McNally confirmed the news to our sister publication Rolling stone.

“She was a gentle and warmly beautiful spirit, and all who knew her are united in loss,” McNally said. Rolling stone. “The family requests privacy during this time of grief. In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, ‘May the four winds carry her home safely.'”

Born Donna Jean Thatcher on August 22, 1947 in Florence, AL, Godchaux-MacKay had worked as a backing singer for a number of acts in the 1960s, appearing on the 1966 Sledge classic “When a Man Loves a Woman” and other Muscle Shoals productions. She later did memorable backing work on Presley’s 1969 hit, “Suspicious Minds,” which was the King’s first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in seven years. She has also appeared on tracks by the likes of Cher, Neil Diamond, Duane Allman and Boz Scaggs.

She moved to California in the late 1960s and met keyboardist Keith Godchaux. They married in 1970, met members of The Grateful Dead at a concert the next day, and both would go on to join the legendary San Francisco band. He replaced Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who was ill and could no longer tour.

Godchaux-MacKay’s appearance on the band’s records was the landmark live album Europe 1972and she continued to record and tour with The Dead until 1979, singing on his LPs Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel, Blues for Allah, Terrapin Station And Shakedown Street.

Along the way, she and her husband played on Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia’s solo albums and recorded their own record, Keith and Donnain 1975.

She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Grateful Dead 1994.

The Godchaux left The Grateful Dead in 1979 and started the Heart of Gold Band in 1980. But Keith Godchaux died from his injuries in a car accident shortly after their first concert. He was 32 years old.

She would later marry bassist David MacKay, who played in her band Donna Jean Godchaux.

Over the next few years, Godchaux-MacKay continued to record and perform solo and in various groups. Most recently, she released a single titled “Shelter” in 2021 under the name Donna Jean and the Tricksters.