Phil Lesh, bassist and founder of Grateful Dead, dies at age 84

Phil Lesh, a founding member of the Grateful Dead whose nuanced bass playing made him an architect of the band's otherworldly sound, died on Friday at age 84, his Instagram account said.

Tributes poured in from the music world and New York's Empire State Building said it would illuminate the skyscraper in tie-dye colours to honour a member of the psychedelic band known for lengthy improvisations in its live shows, which drew dedicated "Dead Head" fans known for travelling from concert to concert.

The Instagram post said he died peacefully, surrounded by family.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lesh as the 11th greatest bass player of all time, though he also sang lead and backing vocals. Many fans considered him as influential as the band's front man, Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

"His idea - 'play bass and lead at the same time,' his notes darting in and around the melody - became as recognisable a part of the Dead's sound as Garcia's guitar," Rolling Stone said.

"Phil was more than a revolutionary, groundbreaking bass player - he transformed how I thought about music as a teenager," Trey Anastasio, the lead guitarist of Phish, wrote on Instagram.

Formed in California in 1965, the Dead came to prominence during 1967 in San Francisco.

But the Dead's music endured much longer than that as a mixture of rock, folk, country and jazz.

After Garcia's death, long-time players Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart formed various line-ups under the name Dead & Company, while Lesh opted instead to create Phil Lesh and Friends, which played until 2023.

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