New York — Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay, the spirited mezzo-soprano who provided backing vocals on 1960s classics such as “Suspicious Minds” and “When a Man Loves a Woman” and was a featured singer with the Grateful Dead for much of the 1970s, has died at age 78.
A spokesperson for Godchaux-MacKay confirmed that she died Sunday at Alive Hospice in Nashville after contracting cancer. Godchaux-McKay and other members of the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, she was not yet 20 when she became a session player at nearby Muscle Shoals, where many soul and rhythm and blues songs were recorded, and she was also on hand for many sessions at the Memphis-based American Sound Studio. Her credits included Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and songs with Neil Diamond, Boz Scaggs, and Cher.
In the early 1970s, she and pianist/then-husband Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead and remained with them for several tours and albums, including “Terrapin Station,” “Shakedown Street,” and “From the Mars Hotel.” Godchaux appeared on several songs, whether joining Jerry Garcia on “Scarlet Begonias” or writing and taking the lead on “From the Heart of Me.”
The Godchaux family left the Dead in 1979, hoping to form their own group, but Keith Godchaux died the following year from injuries sustained in a car accident. Donna, who married bassist David MacKay in 1981, continued to tour and record over the following decades.
Her albums include “Backaround” and “Donna Jean and the Tricksters.” In the 1970s, she and Keith Godchaux released the song “Keith & Donna.”
In addition to David McKay, survivors include sons Kinsman McKay and Zion Godchaux and two brothers, Goji Clark and Evan Thatcher.
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