Grateful Dead This article is more than 8 years oldGrateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh diagnosed with bladder cancer
This article is more than 8 years oldLesh says he is recovering from surgery and expects to be resuming normal activities in a fortnight
Former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has revealed he is suffering from bladder cancer – but says he expects to be back to work soon.
Lesh’s illness was revealed when he was forced to cancel two shows with former Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson this coming weekend. He posted a note on Facebook, explaining: “I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in early October, and have spent the last few weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale doing tests and eventually surgery to remove the tumors. I am very fortunate to have the pathology reports show that the tumors are all non aggressive, and that there is no indication that they have spread.”
He said he should be returning to “normal activities” within two weeks. Lesh had previously been treated for prostate cancer in 2006.
The Grateful Dead played what were billed as their final ever shows this summer, under the title “Fare Thee Well”. After two nights in California, they decamped to Chicago to play three nights at Soldier Field, the home of the Chicago Bears. More than 210,000 tickets were sold, earning the band a reported $50m.
Despite the Dead’s commercial success, however, the members of the Dead have always been jobbing musicians playing much smaller shows when the parent band is not active.
Lesh has been playing with assorted musicians under the banner Phil Lesh and Friends since 1998, and has his own venue, the Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, which is where the two cancelled shows were due to have taken place.
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