Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, the vocalist who joined the Grateful Dead in the 1970s alongside her late husband, keyboardist Keith Godchaux, has died. She was 78.
The passing of Donna Jean, who remarried bassist David MacKay following Keith’s death from a car accident in 1980, was confirmed by the Grateful Dead’s longtime publicist, Dennis McNally.
“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,” the statement reads. “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.”
Born Donna Jean Thatcher on August 22nd, 1947, in Florence, AL, Donna cut her teeth as a session singer in Muscle Shoals, AL, home of the legendary FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. During that time, she sang with a group called Southern Comfort, appeared on #1 songs by Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds”) and Percy Sledge (“When A Man Loves A Woman”), and sang on additional recordings by Boz Scaggs and Duane Allman, Neil Diamond, Cher, and more.
After moving to California, she married keyboardist Keith Godchaux in 1970 and, shortly thereafter, introduced him to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia during a show at San Francisco’s Keystone Corner. As founding Dead keyboardist Ronald “Pigpen” McKernan‘s health worsened, and temporary keyboardist Tom “TC” Constanten made his exit following the band’s infamous 1970 drug bust in New Orleans, Keith was called up to join the band, followed by Donna.
Donna and Keith toured and recorded with the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979, regarded as one of the greatest periods in the band’s history. Their tenure encompassed historic shows including Watkins Glen and Englishtown, NJ, the Pyramids in Egypt, the band’s famed 1972 tour of Europe, the “Wall of Sound” era, The Grateful Dead Movie, Cornell 1977, and much more, as well as studio releases Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel, Blues for Allah, Terrapin Station, and Shakedown Street.
During their time with the Dead, Donna and Keith released the mostly-original Keith & Donna album in 1975. They both left the Dead in 1979 and formed the Heart of Gold Band, though that group only one show before Keith died in a car accident in July 1980 at the age of 32. The Heart of Gold Band featured guitarist Steve Kimock and drummer Greg Anton, who went on to form Zero out of the ashes of the Heart of Gold Band, which disbanded in 1981 shortly after adding bassist David MacKay, whom Donna would marry shortly thereafter.
Following Keith’s death and the dissolution of the Heart of Gold Band, Donna returned to Muscle Shoals and led her own The Donna Jean Band, later known as Donna Jean and the Tricksters with guitarist Jeff Matson. In the early days of Dead & Company, she rejoined her former bandmates Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann for high-profile sit-ins at Bonnaroo, Citi Field, and Fenway Park.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay is survived by her husband David MacKay, her son Kinsman MacKay and his wife Molly, her son Zion Godchaux (of electronic duo BoomBox) and his son Delta, her sister Gogi Clark, and her brother Ivan Thatcher.
Rest in peace, Donna. May the four winds blow her safely home.
Grateful Dead – “St. Stephen” -> “Not Fade Away” -> “St. Stephen” > “Eyes of the World” – Passaic, NJ – 9/18/1976
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