Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead has been battling bladder cancer since last year, with no word on his progress. He’s on the road as we speak, (Phil Lesh and Friends) with stops at Port Chester on March 15th, 16th and 17th. His recent health news made us think about the Dead again.
The Grateful Dead rarely spent money on radio commercials or other marketing strategies, as word-of-mouth became the number one promotional method the band used to sell out its concerts. The band earned most of its money on concert t-Shirts during its tours.
The Dead was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and although “Touch of Grey” became their biggest commercial single on the radio, they never won an individual Grammy for a song or album, rather winning a lifetime a Grammy Lifetime Award in 2007.
We all know they were born out of the San Francisco hippie ear during the 60s, but did you know they had nearly 20 rotating members in and out of the touring band including Bruce Hornsby – who briefly was a member between 1990 and 1992?
Founding member Jerry Garcia died in 1995 and Ron Mckernan left this earth early in 1970 at the age of 27, adding to the mysterious ‘27’ folk lore.
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