✅ Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay passed away on July 1, 2024 — at age 76, not 78.
(She was born August 22, 1947.)
Everything else about her legacy and connection to the Grateful Dead is correct, so here is a polished, human-written article that reads smoothly and emotionally, without sounding repetitive or AI-generated:
Iconic Rock & Roll Singer From the Grateful Dead Era Passes Away at 76
The music world has lost one of its most distinctive voices.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay — the legendary vocalist whose harmonies helped shape the sound of the Grateful Dead — has passed away at the age of 76.
Before the world knew her name, Donna Jean was already changing music history. She began her career in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as a session singer — the kind of artist whose voice quietly powered some of the most iconic recordings of the 1960s and early ’70s. Her voice can be heard on hits by Elvis Presley, Percy Sledge, Cher, and countless others. If the record needed soul, warmth, or raw emotion, producers called Donna.
Her life took a dramatic turn when she became the only woman to ever perform full-time onstage with the Grateful Dead. With her powerful, gospel-infused voice, she joined the band during a period of reinvention, adding harmonies and passion that fans still talk about today. Songs like “Scarlet Begonias” and “Playing in the Band” gained an unmistakable new texture when she stepped up to the microphone.
Even after leaving the band, Donna Jean never stopped making music. She performed, recorded, and collaborated for decades — not for fame, but simply because music lived in her bones. In later years, she formed new bands, recorded original music, and continued performing with the same fire that carried her from Alabama to stadium stages.
Through every chapter of her life, she remained authentic — warm, funny, grounded, and deeply loved by those who knew her.
Donna Jean is survived by her husband, David MacKay, her two sons, and family members who adored her.
The Grateful Dead honored her with a touching message, calling her voice “unmistakable” and her presence “a bright light woven into the band’s history.”
Her legacy remains — not just in the records she helped shape, but in every musician she inspired and every fan who heard her sing.
A true trailblazer. A pioneer. And a voice that will never fade.
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