Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux dies at 78

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a former member of the Grateful Dead, has died at 78. 

The singer, who also sang backup vocals for Number 1 hits including Percy Sledge's When a Man Loves a Woman and Elvis Presley's 1969 single Suspicious Minds, passed away in hospice. 

The sad news was confirmed by a rep who shared a statement with People, revealing she died in Nashville on Sunday November 2, "after a lengthy struggle with cancer." 

"She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss," the statement read. 

"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.'"

Godchaux-MacKay also worked on songs for Cher, Neil Diamond and Dionne Warwick throughout her career. 

She started her career as a session musician before joining the Grateful Dead in 1971, alongside her husband, keyboard player Keith Godchaux.

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Music was always going to be her future, with the singer revealing that it was one of her first memories.

"I was singing from pretty much as soon as I could talk," she told AL.com in 2016. 

"I remember very distinctly when I was six years old, I knew I was going to be a singer and I would sit out on my back porch and sing to the top of my lungs every day."

When it came to her career, she told the outlet that working with Presley was "one of the most amazing times of my life." 

She recalled that he was "so kind to us and encouraging and complimentary… And he looked great. I'm telling you, he was the most gorgeous human being I've ever seen."

Throughout their time in the Grateful Dead, Godchaux-MacKay and her husband travelled the world on tour, but both left the band in 1974, after welcoming their son Zion. 

Both had been looking for a way to leave the band at the time. 

In 1980 she and Godchaux went on to form the Heart of Gold Band, though that musical endeavour was short-lived. 

In July 1980, Godchaux was involved in a car accident in California and died days later. He was 32. 

Godchaux-MacKay went on to marry musician David MacKay in 1981.

In 1994 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead and went on to form the Donna Jean Godchaux Band in 2006.

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

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