Who was Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay? Grateful Dead legend and famed backing singer for Elvis Presley and Cher dies at 78

Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay passed away at 78 after a "lengthy struggle with cancer," according to an official statement shared with Relix Magazine on Monday, November 3. The vocalist died the day prior in a hospice in Nashville. It reads:

"Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay, 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 singer is best known for her tenure as a vocalist for the rock band Grateful Dead in the 1970s. Her representative, Dennis McNally, also shared a statement with Rolling Stone after the news of her passing, remembering the late singer as someone who was a "sweet and [a] warmly beautiful spirit."

Donna Jean Godchaux (Image via Rock & Roll Hall of Fame/YouTube)

She left behind her husband, David MacKay; her children, Kinsman and Zion; her sister, Gogi Clark; her brother, Ivan Thatcher; and a couple of grandkids.

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Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay's life and career explored

Born Donna Jean Thatcher in Florence, Alabama, she started her music career in the nearby Muscle Shoals in the 1960s as an in-demand session singer. It got her the chance to work with some of the biggest names in music, like Percy Sledge, Cher, and Elvis Presley, and to sing backing vocals for them.

Some of her credits include Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds and In the Ghetto, and Cher's I Walk On Guilded Splinters from her 1969 album, 3614 Jackson Highway, which was the first full-length album recorded in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay was also featured in Cher's album cover alongside everyone who worked on the album.

The singer talked about working with Elvis Presley in the season 4 episode 5 of the official Grateful Dead podcast in 2021, saying:

"It was a tremendous, tremendous surprise, Elvis Presley asking us to be on his record. He was wonderful. He was so generous, and... let's see, how would I describe Elvis Presley? He was very generous and accepting and encouraging, and just a really sweet guy to us."

She also sang in Percy Sledge's Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles chart No.1, When a Man Loves a Woman. And after meeting the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia soon after moving to California, she and her then-husband, Keith Godchaux, joined the band from 1971 to 1979. She toured with the band and was a key feature in their albums Europe '72, Wake of the Flood, and Terrapin Station.

The former couple also released their album together in 1975 and were set to start a band together after their run with the Dead. However, Keith's sudden passing led to Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay fronting her own group called Donna Jean and the Tricksters and Donna Jean Godchaux Band. Her last studio album, per the Rolling Stone, was released in 2014.

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According to the official statement announcing the singer's passing, an obituary recognizing her strength and achievements will be posted shortly.

Edited by Kinette Sumadia