Photo: Vernon Webb

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, the feminine force and vocal powerhouse behind the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979, passed away yesterday, Sunday, November 2, 2025, after a battle with cancer. 

Read the official statement below.

“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.

She is survived by her husband David MacKay, her son Kinsman MacKay and his wife Molly, her son Zion Godchaux and his son Delta, her sister Gogi Clark, and her brother Ivan Thatcher.

Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, she became a session singer in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and sang on two #1 songs: Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” and Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds. Moving to California, she met and married pianist Keith Godchaux. She met the Dead’s Jerry Garcia, and introduced herself to him. Soon after, first Keith and then Donna Jean were part of the band. From 1971 to 1979 they toured America, Europe, and even Egypt.

Sometime after Keith’s passing in a car accident, she married again. to David MacKay, in 1981. Returning to Muscle Shoals, she remained active in music with the Donna Jean Godchaux Band in partnership with her bassist husband David MacKay.

She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss. The family requests privacy at this time of grieving. In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, “May the four winds blow her safely home.”

An obituary, recognizing her strength and achievements, will be posted shortly.