Grateful Dead keyboardist dead at 51

[speedway]

Grateful Dead keyboardist dead at 51

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Vince Welnick, the Grateful Dead's last keyboard player and a veteran of several other bands, including the Tubes and Missing Man Formation, has died at age 51, the Grateful Dead's longtime publicist confirmed Saturday.

Welnick died Friday, said Dennis McNally, who declined to release the cause.

Welnick lived in the northern California town of Forestville, but McNally did not know if he died at home or in a hospital.

"His service to and love for the Grateful Dead were heartfelt and essential. He had a loving soul and a joy in music that we were lucky to share," the group said in a statement on its Web site. "Our Grateful Dead prayer for the repose of his spirit: May the four winds blow him safely home."

Welnick was the last in a long line of Grateful Dead keyboardists, several of whom died prematurely, leading some of the group's fans to conclude that the position came with a curse.

Welnick had replaced Brent Mydland, who died of a drug overdose in 1990. Mydland had followed Keith Godchaux, who died in a car crash shortly after leaving the band. And Godchaux had replaced the band's original keyboard player, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, who died at age 27 in 1973.

Welnick was the last musician to join the group before lead guitarist and unofficial leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995.

The death hit Welnick particularly hard, McNally said.

"The loss of Jerry obviously affected everybody in the band, but I think in some ways it was just harder on Vince," he said.

Welnick struggled for several years after leaving the Tubes, and embraced the opportunity Garcia and the Dead gave him when they asked him to play keyboards in 1990.

"To lose it within five years hurt him I think maybe worse than anybody else in the band," McNally said.

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[Lola]

ah man that sucks I luff the Grateful Dead.... good tunes to smoke a bomb too ;D

[Bling]

lol @ lola


prolly why this guy kicked the bucket... one too many :P

[dahzel]

i doubt there are a lot of grateful dead fans on CJ but whoever is knows how good this band was and how much their music means to their fans. amazing lyrics (most of the time) and great music. the band used 2 bass guitars and 2 drummers so percussion was a big part of the music.

[Lola]

Originally Posted by dahzel

i doubt there are a lot of grateful dead fans on CJ but whoever is knows how good this band was and how much their music means to their fans. amazing lyrics (most of the time) and great music. the band used 2 bass guitars and 2 drummers so percussion was a big part of the music.

werdddd we had a whole bunch of bootleg concert cd's.. and we'd chill up north at the campfire drinkin' and smokin' bombs.. and dancing around the fire.. GD was a great great band with a HUGE following..

[AlanS]

Originally Posted by Lolahotass

[quote author=dahzel link=board=6;threadid=28753;start=0#msg332883 date=1149535809]
i doubt there are a lot of grateful dead fans on CJ but whoever is knows how good this band was and how much their music means to their fans. amazing lyrics (most of the time) and great music. the band used 2 bass guitars and 2 drummers so percussion was a big part of the music.

werdddd we had a whole bunch of bootleg concert cd's.. and we'd chill up north at the campfire drinkin' and smokin' bombs.. and dancing around the fire.. GD was a great great band with a HUGE following..
[/quote]

You must be from the midwest :P

[HouseJunkie]

who?

[Lola]

Originally Posted by Alan

[quote author=Lolahotass link=board=6;threadid=28753;start=0#msg332902 date=1149537188]
[quote author=dahzel link=board=6;threadid=28753;start=0#msg332883 date=1149535809]
i doubt there are a lot of grateful dead fans on CJ but whoever is knows how good this band was and how much their music means to their fans. amazing lyrics (most of the time) and great music. the band used 2 bass guitars and 2 drummers so percussion was a big part of the music.

werdddd we had a whole bunch of bootleg concert cd's.. and we'd chill up north at the campfire drinkin' and smokin' bombs.. and dancing around the fire.. GD was a great great band with a HUGE following..
[/quote]

You must be from the midwest :P
[/quote]

haha i know... yeahhh boyeeeeee michigannnnnnn :P

[brucio]

Wind in the willows playin' "Tea for Two";

The sky was yellow and the sun was blue,

Strangers' stoppin' strangers' just to shake their hand,

Everybody's playin' in the heart of gold band, heart of gold band.

[jamu]

Hey I heard in the medical reports they found traces of blood in the guys heroine stream. :P